flipOntario Butter Tarts
Ontario Butter Tarts
Why this dish? Strickland's career spanned Ontario (Guelph, McMaster, Waterloo) and Rochester, New York. Butter tarts, Ontario's proud treat, travel beautifully: they're exactly the kind of sweet you pack in the car for long drives between campuses.
Small individual tartlets with flaky shortcrust pastry, filled with a gooey caramelized heart of maple syrup, brown sugar, and butter. Crisp on top, melting inside. Ontario's iconic sweet.
This is from home, from Ontario, and I don't mess around with these tarts. The big question that divides Canadian families is: runny or set? I like them a little runny, just enough that the filling threatens to spill over. The secret is not to overbake them — you take the tray out of the oven when the center still jiggles. I always packed a few for the road between Waterloo and Rochester; they keep perfectly and turn any highway drive into a little moment of happiness.
- •Shortcrust pastry with lard or butter — for tartlet shells (crust)
- •Maple syrup — generous (filling, signature note)
- •Brown sugar — abundant (caramelized filling)
- •Butter — a good knob (melting)
- •Egg — 1 (binder)
- •Raisins (optional) — a handful (traditional garnish)
Ontario Butter Tarts
Small individual tartlets with flaky shortcrust pastry, filled with a gooey caramelized heart of maple syrup, brown sugar, and butter. Crisp on top, melting inside. Ontario's iconic sweet.
Why this dish? Strickland's career spanned Ontario (Guelph, McMaster, Waterloo) and Rochester, New York. Butter tarts, Ontario's proud treat, travel beautifully: they're exactly the kind of sweet you pack in the car for long drives between campuses.
This is from home, from Ontario, and I don't mess around with these tarts. The big question that divides Canadian families is: runny or set? I like them a little runny, just enough that the filling threatens to spill over. The secret is not to overbake them — you take the tray out of the oven when the center still jiggles. I always packed a few for the road between Waterloo and Rochester; they keep perfectly and turn any highway drive into a little moment of happiness.
Ingredients (period version)
- Shortcrust pastry with lard or butter — for tartlet shells (crust)
- Maple syrup — generous (filling, signature note)
- Brown sugar — abundant (caramelized filling)
- Butter — a good knob (melting)
- Egg — 1 (binder)
- Raisins (optional) — a handful (traditional garnish)
Ingredients
- Shortcrust pastry — 1 roll (or homemade) (12 tartlet shells)
- Brown sugar — 150 g (filling)
- Maple syrup — 120 ml (signature filling)
- Melted butter — 60 g (melting)
- Egg — 1 large (binder)
- Vanilla extract — 1 tsp (flavor)
- Pinch of salt — 1 (balance)
- Raisins or pecans (optional) — 50 g (garnish)
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut pastry discs and line a muffin tin (12 cavities).
- If desired, distribute raisins or pecans at the bottom.
- Whisk together brown sugar, maple syrup, melted butter, egg, vanilla, and salt.
- Fill each pastry shell only two-thirds full (the filling rises).
- Bake for 12-15 min: pastry should be golden and the center still slightly jiggly.
- Let cool in the tin for 10 min before carefully unmolding — the filling sets as it cools.
How it was made : Butter tarts appear in Canadian cookbooks as early as the early 20th century (one of the first mentions dates to 1900, in an Ontario collection). Linked to pioneer women and farming families, they have become an identity marker of Ontario, to the point that 'butter tart tours' are organized.
The contemporary twist : Sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt on the warm filling: the sweet-salty contrast brightens the maple syrup and is a hit at potluck tables.
Donna Strickland · Charactorium
