Saturday, March 20, 2010

Butter Tarts

I bet you all wish I had my sewing machine back, then I'd stop posting about food.  Nanci at Quilting at The Cottage left me a comment this week mentioning butter tarts, and how they were quintessentially Canadian  so of course I had to make them. I've been thinking about them all week.  Dreaming of butter tarts. Which is way better than dreaming that clowns are trying to eat me.   

I wish I'd had this butter tart recipe at Christmas when we had a Canadian for lunch, ( he  was eating here , we weren't eating him, which is what that last sentence sounded like ) The best I could come up with then was a yule log. Store bought log cake, store bought frosting (Yes, Brenda) slapped it together and threw a Holly leaf on top. Pretty classy huh? I bet he would have been mega impressed if I had cooked these instead.

Apparently, everyone on the internet thinks they have the best butter tart  recipe, so I  had to guess who was telling the truth. Right after I got the lie detector test results back (can you believe some people refused to submit to a polygraph?) I decided to use this recipe.   Plus I'm allergic to nuts  so I had to choose one that said nuts were optional. Thirty years ago, I was a circus freak with my nut allergy, now it seems there are lots of us. And by the way , I am often asked if I miss eating peanut butter and Ferrero Rochers. Let me ask you this : Would you miss eating something that had the capacity to kill you?

The prep stuff with these is pretty easy. I'm going to confess , I cheated  was creative with the pastry. I had shortcrust sheets  in my freezer so I used them. I don't think it made any difference to the final product, which was Delicious. This is what they look like filled but not cooked.


20 minutes later ..........



Ta da!


Thank you Canada for butter tarts from the bottom of my heart. Thank you again Canada for giving me a recipe that means I can brag about my international cooking skills, that doesn't send me half insane and make me feel inadequate like some other recipes I have tried. I know that Americans make fun of Canadians, but frankly I think you  guys rock! Plus you have awesome bacon, a really nice flag  and maple syrup. I'm sold!

Thanks Nanci for alerting me to this culinary wonder. It's going in my cook book and I'll be making these again.



P.S. I still have a pretzel recipe I'm wanting to try but nobody else in my house eats pretzels so I feel it would be a waste to make them just for me plus my arse doesn't need that level of carbs solo. Does anyone wanna come over and help me eat them if I make them?

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Well the tarts look amazing. I make my own pastry, easiest in the world. If you want it, I'll send it to you.
Since I used to bake when my family was growing, I do have the best pastry recipe and it will keep even if you freeze it for ages.
It's like a woman, it gets better with age.
I'm sure your family will be glad when you get your machine back, they will need to diet.

Shay said...

Im all over the recipe Nanci. Please please send it to me . I'm not great with pastry I must admit and it would be great to learn (and a darn site cheaper than buying sheets of the stuff as well) and if I can freeze it all the better. You can email me directly if you prefer.

I've just had to hide the tarts because Mr. P has eaten about 6 of them since they came out of the oven...

Lissa Jane said...

I use shortcrust pastry where possible too.. I dont have time to faff about with it to be honest and to be really honest its one less step for me to _#)$(@* up...

I like Canadians, its just a shame about their neighbours *W*



Lissa
*running ducking for cover**

Mistea said...

Okay I'm drooling and wishing that I lived closer - I'd come and help you eat them pretzels, and my guess is when you make them the family will soon change their mind about liking them!

Thanks for sharing your baking adventures.

Anonymous said...

Mrs. P, wherever did you get the idea that Americans make fun of Canadians? I think I speak on behalf of most Americans when I say we love our Canadian neighbors, eh? I mean, Michael J. Fox is Canadian and Americans love Michael J. Fox. Particularly, I love Michael J. Fox. We are like siblings, though (Canadians and Americans, not Michael J. Fox and I. I don't even know Michael J. Fox. But I love him anyway). We have to torture and tease each other for our own amusement:-) And we prefer Canadians that visit by the carful rather than the busload, eh? A Busload of Canadians can be bad news. Just kidding. Wish I had a Canadian butter tart.

Anonymous said...

And Lissa Jane, that was not very nice. I don't think you deserve a butter tart. Just sayin'

Marg said...

They look yummy, hey Nanci I would love your recipe for pastry too, pretty please. I must agree Shay, Canadian bacon, maple syrup, and Nanaimo bars yummmmmmmm. Not all together though, that would be icky. Oh and of course Moose Milk, now who ever invented that is my hero!!!!

Anonymous said...

Lissa Jane, you know I am kidding, right? It just occurred to me that you can't see me laughing as I type.

Shay said...

Oh my Marg, you can keep your moose milk but I just googled Nanaimo bars.

My backside thanks you in advance because I'm planning to make some. You are pure evil.

Shay said...

Hey Chicken,

Lissa is probably looking up recipes for chicken soup of some sort....

Anonymous said...

Ot oh. Note to self. Leave the LJ alone!

Marg said...

Did you look up the recipe for Moose Milk????? Although maybe I shouldn't remind you as you really will think I am a lush.

TheLab said...

OK, I laughed out loud at my desk reading this (again, not helping me get a raise...) THIS WAS SO FUNNY! And so were the comments!!!

Speaking of nationalities, do Aussies like New Zealanders? Because I LOVE Farscape, it was my favorite television show ever, and it was filmed there AND most of the actors were from there. And I LOVE Lord of the Rings and it was filmed there too. So, what are your thoughts on NZ? ;)

Shay said...

I'm sorry my blogging is affecting your family finances Leslie. My Bad. I'll try to be less funny. I'll call your boss and remind him/her about your awesomeness.I'll send you Aussie meat pies to supplement your weekly shop. Tell me how I can make it up to you?

Funny you should mention to Aust/NZ thing. I was going to write in this post about how Aussies make fun of New Zealanders, as well as the US/Canadian Rivalry then I remembered, Deb who follows my blog is in NZ! I lobve New Zealanders because they talk just like us - only funnier.