Butter tarts: A national treasure

One of just a handful of genuinely Canadian recipes, the butter tart, with its sweet, gooey filling cradled in rustic home-made pastry, manages to seduce everyone who bites into its scrumptious shell (Sir John A. is said to have eaten them by the handful). So how does this homey, yet deeply decadent treat manage to stir up more debate across the country than the last election? Squabbles arise over everything from pastry texture to whether the filling should be runny or not (and if so, how runny?) and, most contentious of all, acceptable additions (pecans, walnuts and raisins are the usual suspects). But no matter what recipe you prefer, get ready to indulge: in this country, we believe that biting into a butter tart is nothing short of a patriotic act.

Old-fashioned butter tarts

Makes 12 medium tarts, shown above

Five star pastry
2 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp icing sugar
1⁄4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup shortening
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp ice water
1 egg

Sift the flour, icing sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Pinch the shortening into small cubes and rub lightly into the flour mixture until all the shortening is broken into small crumbly pieces. In a small bowl, whisk vinegar, ice water and egg together with a fork. Pour mixture around edges of flour mixture and pull together with the fork to form a ball.

Flatten pastry into two disks and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill at least 30 minutes before rolling.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the pastry disks into a circle about 1/8" thick. Using a 4-inch cutter, stamp out 6 pastry rounds and ease them gently into medium muffin tins, pressing softly so that they reach the bottom. Repeat with the remaining pastry. Chill the prepared pastry tart shells for 30 minutes before baking.

Filling
1⁄2 cup corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1⁄3 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1⁄2 cup golden raisins

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a bowl, beat together the corn syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla. Divide the raisins among the prepared pastry tart shells. Fill almost to the top with the syrup mixture. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until the tart shells are golden brown. Allow to cool before removing from the muffin pan.