Butter Tarts & Lemon Custard Tarts

It was a special day at work today. Instead of cookies, I made two kinds of tarts. Of all the requests, lemon was the overall winner. Me, personally, I adore a good butter tart. Butter Tarts are about as Canadian as maple syrup and hockey (despite that our official national game is LaCrosse). I don't know anyone in my family who doesn't have at least one recipe for Butter Tarts. Originally thought to be derived from the American Pecan Pie, butter tarts have two schools of adorers: those that like them gooey, and those that like them custardy. I prefer the gooey. With (most commonly) walnuts, seedless Thompson raisins or without, gooey Butter Tarts make me purr. These ones I made in a muffin tin, so they were definitely more than two bites and they were definitely delicious!

Feel free to omit the dough and use your own favourite. I use the recipe my mum gave me that she adopted when she worked at an Irving Big Stop restaurant (also very Canadian, at least in the Maritimes anyway). The dough, which uses an egg and baking powder, never gets tough - you can roll it and roll it and roll it and it's still as pliable as when it's freshly made. It always turns out crispy and flaky and melt in your mouth and I don't think I'll ever switch!

Festive Butter Tarts

1-1/4 cup flour
3 Tbsp icing sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup raisins (optional)
3 eggs
1 cup corn syrup or honey
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
pinch salt

Combine flour & sugar. Cut in softened butter until mixture is crumbly. Divide dough among 12-3" fluted tart pans or 3" muffin tins. Press dough evenly over bottom & up sides. Place pans on baking sheet. Sprinkle raisins evenly over bottom of each tart shell. In separate bowl, combine eggs, corn syrup or honey, brown sugar, melted butter and salt. Pour into tart shells, filling each 2/3 full. Bake in preheated 375°F for 20-25 minutes or until set. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely. Makes one dozen.

Lemon Custard Tarts
(Recipe from Food Network Canada's Christine Cushing Live)

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
grated rind of one lemon
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1-1/2 cup whole milk
1 egg yolk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk together half the sugar with the 1 yolk, 2 whole eggs, lemon juice, lemon rind and vanilla in a medium bowl. Whisk the cornstarch, remaining sugar and milk in a bowl or measuring cup. Bring milk to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until slightly thickened. Slowly, whisk into egg mixture. Return to sauce pan and bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. Transfer to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, sealing plastic wrap directly over the custard so that no skin forms on the custard. Put in refrigerator and thoroughly chill before using, about 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out the puff pastry to 1/8-inch thick. Cut the pastry into twelve 4-inch circles with a cookie cutter or top of a cup or glass. Press pastry circles into muffin cups. Prick the bottoms with a fork. Line each puff cup with aluminum foil. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove foil and pie weights. Cool pastry for 5 to 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spoon the cooled custard into the baked puff pastry cups. Bake until golden and skin forms, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let tarts cool to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or chilled. The custard will be a little loose.