Canadian Butter Tarts with Maple Syrup
Small maple syrup tarts with a crunchy, buttery shell and a rich, deliciously sticky filling.
Butter Tarts are one of the quintessential Canadian delicacies.
It is said that they were first baked in the 1600s in Quebec. The original version called for maple sugar as well as freshly beaten butter and dried fruit.
The maple syrup gives the filling an even more melt-in-the-mouth texture.
Like all traditional recipes, each Canadian family cooks its own version, adding dried currants, pecans, chocolate chips or even crunchy bacon to the filling.
They are best enjoyed as a dessert or as a hearty snack with a steaming cup of tea.
PREPARATION
8 servings
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes
Difficult: medium
Dessert
Author: MapleFarm
INGREDIENTS
For the shells
- 200g of type 0 flour
- 125g of sugar
- 125g of butter
- 1 small egg
- a pinch of salt
For the filling
- 100g of raw cane sugar
- 170g of maple syrup MapleFarm Maple Syrup Grade A, Very Dark Variety
- 1 large egg
- 30g of butter
- 40g of dried fruit (sultanas and chopped nuts)
- Juice of one lemon
- A pinch of salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare the shortcrust pastry by placing the flour and butter in the mixer and blend until it has the consistency of wet sand.
- Add the egg and a pinch of salt and knead into a dough.
- Roll out the dough to a thickness of 4mm. Cut out 8 circles with a pastry cutter.
- Cover a buttered multi-muffin pan or individual moulds with a diameter of 8cm and place in the fridge until the filling is ready.
- For the filling, mix the sugar with the maple syrup, melted butter, egg, lemon juice and a pinch of salt until you have a smooth cream.
- Heat the oven to 190°C.
- Remove the shells from the fridge, cover them with a handful of mixed nuts and fill them with the creamy mixture.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the shells are golden brown.
- Serve the cupcakes warm or cold.
