Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Canadian Butter Tart Recipe

This recipe has been in my family for years. Feel free to substitute the lard with shortening or butter. We have been making our pastry with lard that is rendered at a local butcher shop. This lard is soft and makes great pies. Have you ever wondered why Grandma's pies tasted the best? She probably used lard. Lard makes pie crust with a much better "feel" and the crusts are crisp and flaky. In Wikipedia it states: "Leaf lard has little pork flavor, making it ideal for use in baked goods, where it is valued for its ability to produce flaky, moist pie crusts." For my Butter Tarts I use the same pie dough recipe as I would for my apple pies.
Butter Tart Pastry:
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup lard
3 TBSP. cold water.
Mix the flour, salt and sugar together. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut in the lard until the flour looks moistened and is in fine crumbs. Lightly stir in the 3 tablespoons of water until the mixture holds together. Using your tart shell press form the dough into 12-15 3" tarts shells. If you do not have a press, roll out your dough with a rolling pin and cut into circles and place in tart pans.
Filling

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup currants or raisins.
Place approximately 1 heaping teaspoon raisins or currents into each tart shell. Beat egg in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour or spoon filling over raisins/currants filling shells apprximately 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes.

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