Beehive Corn Syrup had its own recipe for Butter Tarts on the back label of its golden product. Here it is in all its simplicity.

Ingredients 
2 eggs
1 Cup Beehive Corn Syrup
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Butter (melted)
1 teasp. Vanilla
1 Cup raisins (and I would soak them in water first for 1 hour to soften them)
24 3″ tart shells (or 48 mini shells)

Directions 
In a bowl beat eggs lightly with a fork
Add corn syrup, sugar, melted butter and vanilla
Stir until mixed
Spoon raisins into shells pour syrup mixture over the raisins two thirds full
Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

By George underlined for future reference one of the 26 butter tart creations found in The Great Canadian Cookbook — Bacon Butter Tarts!  This is a must-bake.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients 

Premade pastry, cut into 3 1/2-inch circles

5 slices bacon, cooked until crispy and chopped

¼ cup soft butter

½ cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.

2. Line 18 medium sized muffin tins with the pastry. Do not prick.

3. In bowl, combine butter and brown sugar. Stir in corn syrup, salt and vanilla. Combine until just blended.

4. Arrange cooked bacon in the shells.

5. Spoon mixture into unbaked tart shells filling each to about 2/3 full.

6. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Do not allow filling to bubble over.

Prep time – 10 minutes; total time – 25 minutes; and, makes 18 servings.

The Food Network has a video to guide you through the baking process.

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

By George has found the website for those who wish to venture beyond the traditional tart and make a butter tart creation. In The Great Canadian Cookbook there are 26 recipes from butter tart squares to pinwheels. There are tarts with pecans and chocolate and maple.

We saw coffee cake, cinnamon buns, and an interesting cheese cake recipe.

We also saw a baklava butter tart bake and a receipt for butter tart ice cream.

There’s everything – including a traditional Waterloo County Butter Tart recipe.

The cookbook introduces the butter tart section with the following description:

Known around the world as a uniquely Canadian dessert, butter tarts are one of the tastiest things to come out of the True North. Nothing beats the flaky pastry filled with a perfectly sticky-sweet centre. Whether you prefer them plain, studded with raisins or turned into a cheesecake, we’ve got 26 recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Enjoy reading through and baking these fun recipes!

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

By George is celebrating July as the “Butter Tart Month.”

We are having a sweet time, but there is one piece of serious business we wish to clear up with our followers. It’s the all-important question for all butter tart lovers:

“Does the ultimate butter tart contain raisins?”

Mid-way through our By George survey the results are inconclusive:

Raisin 47 %

No-Raisins 39%

Other 14%

(With respect to the “other” responses, some people said “both” or “neither” and some answered pecans or currants.)

If you have not done so already, please register your opinion by emailing us at chrisg.george@gmail.com or visit the By George Facebook page and leave us a message.

Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

“Butter tarts are a Canadian tradition. Waaaay back in the 1970s, a national contest here in Canada concluded that these butter tarts, originating from Wilkie’s Bakery in Orillia, Ontario, were the best. I certainly think so and it’s the only recipe I use. Add a sprinkle of toasted walnuts when you add the raisins, if you wish, or use only walnuts if you don’t like raisins.”

– Lennie L as posted on Food.com

INGREDIENTS

pie pastry (enough to fill 16 muffin cups, your own or from a mix)

½ cup cup raisins

1⁄4 cup soft butter

1⁄4 cup packed brown sugar

1 pinch salt

1⁄2 cup corn syrup

1 egg, lightly beaten

1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Prepare muffin pans by rolling out pie dough and cutting 4-inch (approx) circles; fit dough circles into muffin cups; set aside in fridge until ready to fill.

In a small bowl, place raisins and cover with hot tap water; let stand on the counter for 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix together the soft butter, brown sugar, salt and corn syrup; stir well until sugar is dissolved and butter is creamed.

Add egg and vanilla and mix well.

Drain raisins.

Retrieve tart shells and divide raisins equally into all shells; then divide butter mixture into all tarts.

Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes; filling will be lightly browned but still bubbling.

Canadians fall into two camps about butter tarts and are quite loyal to their favourite type: runny or firm.

I like runny– the type that dribbles when you bite into one; if you like firm, bake them for the full 20 minutes, even adding another minute or two if you wish.

Let cooked butter tarts cool in pans for 10 minutes after removing from oven; then remove and place on racks until completely cool.

Serves 16

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Here is the classic butter tart recipe by renowned Canadian cook Elizabeth Baird. This recipe was found in the blog posts of the Tasting Table.

As a side note, Mrs. Baird was for decades the food editor of Canadian Living. You will find that her recipe differs from the recipe found in that magazine.

Prep Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling time

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes, plus chilling time

Yield: 12 tarts

 

INGREDIENTS

For the Pastry:

1½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup cold butter, cubed

¼ cup cold lard, cubed (or substitute butter)

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Ice water

 

For the Filling:

½ cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup corn syrup

1 large, room-temperature egg

2 tablespoons very soft butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Pinch of salt

⅓ cup currants, sultana raisins, chopped walnuts or pecan halves

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Make the pastry: In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter and lard until the mixture is in very fine crumbs. In a 1-cup measuring cup, use a small whisk or fork to combine the egg yolk, lemon juice and enough ice water to come to ⅓ cup. Gradually drizzle over the flour mixture, stirring briskly with a fork until the pastry holds together. You may need to add a little more ice water to gather up the last of the dry bits. Press into a disc, and wrap and chill until firm. Let stand at room temperature to soften a little before rolling.
2. Make the filling: Preheat the oven to 450°. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar, syrup, egg, butter, vanilla, lemon juice and salt until smooth.
3. On a floured surface, roll out pastry to a ⅛-inch thickness. Using a 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 12 circles, rerolling scraps if necessary. Fit into muffin cups. Divide the currants among the pastry shells. Spoon the filling over the currants until three-quarters full.
4. Bake in the bottom third of the oven for about 12 minutes, or until filling is puffed and bubbly and pastry is golden. Let stand on a rack for a minute; immediately run a metal spatula around tarts to loosen. Carefully slide the spatula under the tarts and lift out to cool on a rack. The baker gets to eat all the tarts that break in transit, or give them as a reward to favourite people.
5. You can freeze them for a month, or store in fridge for up to a week. Warm to serve.

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

The inspiration for this By George original digital art piece is (can you guess?) our favourite  daydreams…

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Brooke Cormier is a 26-year-old Canadian artist who has been pursuing her art professionally since 2016.

In the summer of 2017, Brooke created a delicious masterpiece, a 24” x 24” acrylic on canvass entitled “Canadian Butter Tarts.”  She tells us “these butter tarts were purchased from a bakery in Minden, Ontario and are frequently consumed by the artist and her family.”

As part of her own Canada 150 Food Series, Brooke produced a video that all tart aficionados will find interesting: Canadian Butter Tart Time Lapse.

Enjoy her video. Then enjoy visiting her gallery here: brookecormier.com.

(BTW – you can purchase a print of Brooke’s sweet masterpiece. Wouldn’t this look perfect on your kitchen wall?)

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

This year, the Ottawa Valley can boast having the 2020 Tart Queen (as well as the runner-up queen).  Derek Dunn reports in an Arnprior Chronicle-Guide news article of February 24, 2020.

“Two bakers from just outside Arnprior have won first and second place in the butter tart category at a convention in Toronto.

“Marilyn Misener and her friend Nordella Zimmerling of McNab/Braeside township took home the top ribbon and runner up, respectively, at the Ontario Association of Agricultural Society gala. Misener won the right to submit at the provincial level after winning at the Carp Fair; Zimmerling won at Arnprior’s….

“Judges at the convention blind tasted from the association’s 200 submissions before declaring the winners. They evaluated appearance, including crust and filling, texture, even the folds (preferably none) in the pastry.

Here is the key take away from this story of success.

“The two are on the same side on the eternal debate between including or excluding raisins. No raisins!” both said, vehemently.”

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.”

Today we present a dozen of the most delicious photos of mouthwatering butter tarts. If this post does not make you run out and buy a tart today, nothing will.

 

Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

“THE BEST BUTTER TARTS”

INGREDIENTS

Shell:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cold butter cubed

1/4 cup lard cubed

1/4 cup butter cubed

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vinegar

ice water

 

Filling:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 pinch salt

1/4 cup currants

1/4 cup raisin

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup shredded coconut

 

DIRECTIONS

In large bowl, whisk flour with salt. With pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter and lard until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger pieces.

In liquid measure, whisk egg yolk with vinegar; add enough ice water to make 1/3 cup (75 mL). Sprinkle over flour mixture, stirring briskly with fork until pastry holds together. Press into disc; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Filling: In bowl, whisk together brown sugar, corn syrup, egg, butter, vanilla, vinegar and salt until blended; set aside.

On lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to 1/8-inch (3 mm) thickness. Using 4-inch (10 cm) round cookie cutter (or empty 28 oz/796 mL can), cut out 12 circles, rerolling scraps once if necessary. Fit into 2-3/4- x 1-1/4-inch (7 x 3 cm) muffin cups. Divide currants among shells. Spoon in filling until three-quarters full.

Bake in bottom third of 450 F (230 C) oven until filling is puffed and bubbly and pastry is golden, about 12 minutes. Let stand on rack for 1 minute. Run metal spatula around tarts to loosen; carefully slide spatula under tarts and transfer to rack to let cool.

12 servings

SOURCE:  https://www.canadianliving.com/food/baking-and-desserts/recipe/best-butter-tarts

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

Butter tarts were common in pioneer Canadian cooking and the recipe is of genuinely Canadian origin.

The earliest published recipe for a “butter filling” is from Barrie, Ontario, dating back to 1900. This recipe is found in The Women’s Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook, submitted by Mrs. Mary Ethel MacLeod, a Scottish immigrant to Ontario.

Throughout the early 1900s butter tarts gained popularity and variations were published in Toronto’s Daily News  The first printed recipe of “The Butter Tart” is found in a 1915 Red Roses Cookbook.

Similar tarts are made in Scotland, where they are often referred to as Ecclefechan butter tarts from the town of Ecclefechan. Elizabeth Baird, former food editor at Canadian Living, states that butter tarts were also known in early Ontario as “border tarts” as many of  the Scottish immigrants came from “the border area” of Scotland and England. Like many other Scots living in rural Canada in the late 1800s. Mrs. MacLeod likely adapted a recipe for the old “border tarts” with local ingredients to make her own unique recipe for the tart filling.

In an October 2019 CBC interview, Liz Driver, author of Culinary Landmarks: A Bibliography of Canadian Cookbooks, states she believes it is wholly feasible that butter tarts were invented by ordinary people in rural Ontario. “It’s absolutely completely believable that something did sort of rise up out of the grassroots.”

On the topic of the origins of the butter tart, there is often reference made to the King’s Daughters (or Filles du Roi) of New France. During a ten-year period, from 1663 to 1673, at least 770 young women were sent to Quebec by Louis XIV to help with colonization. The women were resourceful bakers and they created the forerunner of the butter tart, a sugar pie with baking ingredients like maple sugar and dried fruit.

SOURCES: CBC Radio “History of the Butter Tart”, The Food Bloggers of Canada, The Canadian Encyclopedia, Wikipedia

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

A Five Roses Flour cookbook has the earliest printed reference to “butter tarts” in Canadian food literature.

The Lake of the Woods Milling Company released the first edition of the Five Roses Cookbook in 1913 as a collection of around 600 recipes submitted by women across Canada via a contest the company held.

A later 1915 edition of this same book has an introduction that states it is an all-Canadian publication: “The recipes were supplied by Canadian housewives. The book was printed in a Canadian shop, and the paper, both inside and cover stock, was produced in a Canadian mill.… Already, nearly 950,000 copies are in daily use in Canadian kitchens — practically one copy for every second Canadian home.”

Here is the Five Roses Cookbook recipe.

 

Butter Tarts 

Ingredients:

Pastry:

2½ cup Five Roses® all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter, cold

½ cup water, cold

 

Filling:

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

½ tsp salt

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

½ cup maple syrup

1/3 cup butter, melted

¾ cup walnuts, chopped

½ cup currants

½ cup raisins

 

Preparation:

Pastry:

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle in enough water until the dough begins to hold together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a disc (do not overwork the dough).

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out three-inch rounds and line 12 muffin cups with dough. Chill.

Filling:

Whisk together eggs and brown sugar. Add the salt, vinegar, maple syrup and melted butter; combine well.

In small bowl mix together walnuts, currants and raisins.

Divide the walnut-fruit mixture between the tart shells.

Fill each tart with approximately ¼-cup filling.

Bake in a preheated 350 F (180 C) oven for 20-25 minutes or until set.

 

SOURCE:  CBC article on recipes in vintage cookbooks

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

The butter tart is recognized as the greatest Canadian food – ranked number one in the latest By George Top-10 List of Canadian Foods, So, By George wants to celebrate this distinction and, therefore, we have declared the month of July “Butter Tart Month.”

Let’s kick off this celebration with the pivotal question for all tart lovers:

“Does the ultimate butter tart contain raisins?”

To register your opinion, email us at chrisg.george@gmail.com or visit the By George Facebook page and click onto our cover image to make your comment.

By George has declared July as “Butter Tart Month.” Here is a menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.

 

Today By George published its Canada Day newsletter “Our Canadian Top-10 Lists” which included a list of the greatest Canadian foods.

Ranking number one on that list of Canadian foods was the iconic butter tart.

To view the full list of the top ten Canadian foods, click here.

So, to appropriately pay respect to this honour, By George has declared the month of July as “Butter Tart Month.” Each day the By George Journal will post an article on the infamous Canadian butter tart.

Full a full menu of our delectable articles on Canada’s iconic dessert, click here.

Chris George, providing reliable PR counsel and effective advocacy. Need a go-to writer or experienced communicator? 613-983-0801 @ CG&A COMMUNICATIONS.