Butter tarts recipe

Canadian tart whose filling is melted butter, brown sugar and syrup poured raw into a flaky shell and baked only until the centre still wobbles.

2 hours and 30 minutesmedium10 ingredients

Ingredients

• 210 g unsalted butter
• 200 g brown sugar
• 120 ml corn syrup
• 2 eggs
• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100 g raisins
• 1 tsp salt
• 75 ml cold water

How to make Butter tarts

1. Rub 250 g of cold unsalted butter into 250 g of flour with 1/2 teaspoon of salt until the pieces are pea-sized, not sandy. Those visible flakes of butter are what makes the shell flaky.
2. Add 60 to 75 ml of ice-cold water, gather into a disc without kneading, wrap and rest 1 hour in the fridge. Skip the rest and the shells shrink down the tin.
3. Roll 3 mm thick, cut 12 rounds, line a muffin tin and chill another 20 minutes while the oven heats to 220°C.
4. Whisk 210 g of melted but cooled butter with 200 g of brown sugar, 120 ml of corn syrup, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 teaspoon of white vinegar plus a pinch of salt. Stir, don't whip: air makes the filling souffle up and collapse.
5. Drop 1 tablespoon of raisins into the bottom of each shell, 100 g in total. In or out is a national argument; at the bottom is the only place they belong.
6. Fill the shells only two thirds full, the filling climbs as it bakes.
7. Bake 12 minutes at 220°C, then lower to 180°C for 10 to 12 minutes. Pull them out while the centre still shivers if you want the runny kind.
8. Cool 10 minutes in the tin before lifting them out; the filling finishes setting as it cools.

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