Canada Day Butter Tarts! (also appropriate for any other day)
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Maple Butter Tarts
Maple Butter Tarts
Makes 10 tarts
For the pastry
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pats
4–6 tablespoons ice water
1 teaspoon white or apple cider vinegar
For the filling
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons white or apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Optional add-ins
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup coconut
For the pastry, combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add in the butter pats and quickly rub and snap it into the flour mixture until it resembles very coarse sand with some hunks of butter that are about the size of a pea. In a small bowl, combine the ice water and vinegar and pour it over the flour and fat mixture, adding more water if needed. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix until a shaggy dough forms. Dump the dough onto a work surface and give it two or three kneads to bring the dough together. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap and wrap and press the dough into a 1-inch thick disk. Pop this in the fridge for 45 minutes or so to allow the flour to hydrate and re-chill the fat.
Meanwhile, mix up the filling by whisking together the brown sugar, maple syrup, corn syrup, egg, melted butter, vanilla, vinegar, and salt in a large glass measuring cup. Set aside.
When the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 400ºF. Remove the dough from the fridge and set it out on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thick and cut out as many approximately 5-inch circles as possible. If you don’t get 10 rounds, simply gather the rest of the dough, reroll, and cut out more circles. Gently press the circles into a muffin tin, rumpling the sides lightly so that they are a little wavy.
Scatter about a tablespoon of add-ins into the bottoms of each tart shell, if using, and pour over the filling. Do not fill the tarts all the way to the top as it will expand in the oven and may boil over.
Bake the tarts for 15 to 18 minutes or until the filling is puffy and slightly set and the pastry is golden brown.
Allow the tarts to cool for two minutes in the muffin tin then carefully remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.