The Butter Tart – Part #1 Making the Pastry

Other than maybe maple syrup, moose, beavers and such, could be more Canadian than Butter Tarts?  Today I am going to show you step by step how to make butter tarts.

I don’t know about you, but pastry used to be my nemesis!  I could not make it to save my life.  I tried the usual “lard” suspects but no matter what I used it would not turn out.  I gave up for a while and bought the “f” word in pie crusts.. frozen ones!

Then I found Tenderflake and gone were the frozen pie shells, I could make my own pastry from scratch and it turned out every single time! This is what I am going to start with for my Butter Tart post because you can’t have a good Butter Tart without good pastry.

Sandie

Here is what I started out with for my Butter Tarts.

For my pastry, I follow the directions on the Tenderflake box to the letter.  It has never let me down!

I start off by mixing together the egg and vinegar and then adding the water to equal 1 cup.. Cold water.

In the bowl of my stand mixer, I mix the flour and salt together and then add the lard/shortening.

I mix this together until it becomes the consistency of coarse oatmeal.

With the mixer still going, I start to pour the water in, a little bit at a time until the dough is well blended and sticks together. I then put the dough onto a well floured surface and knead it a few times to ensure it’s all sticking together and I have a nice pastry.

Now it’s time to make a ball out of part of it and start rolling.  I used my BARP to roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick.

I cut the circles for the prepared muffin tin and place them in the individual cups. I used a ramekin dish to cut my circles, it was the perfect size!

Now I have a tray full of tart shells ready to fill or to bake and fill with something else!

---

Recipe

Butter Tarts – Part #1 – Making the Pastry

Preparation Time: 30 minutes  Cooking Time: Dependent on recipe (20 minutes for Butter Tarts)  Servings: 12 shells (Recipe makes enough for 24 shells or 2 – double crust pies

Ingredients

• 1 Package TENDERFLAKE Lard/Shortening
• 5 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 Tsp. Salt
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 Tbsp. Vinegar
• Cold Water to make 1 Cup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to required temperature for the type of tarts you are making.  375 degrees for Butter Tarts.  Grease muffin tin cups.
2. In a large measuring cup beat egg and then add vinegar.  Mix to combine.
3. Add enough COLD water to egg mixture to make one cup. Set aside.
4. In bowl of stand mixer, mix together the flour and salt.
5. Add chopped up Tenderflake to flour mixture and blend until it resembles coarse oatmeal.
6. Once mixed, add egg mixture slowly while mixer is still running.
7. Mix until combined and dough is sticking together.
8. Remove from bowl to floured surface and knead a few times.
9. Make a ball out of half of the dough and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
10. Cut circles from the rolled out dough to fit muffin tin cups and insert.
11. Bake according to Tart recipe.
12. For Butter Tarts it is 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Note: I freeze any leftover pastry in balls in freezer bags until I need it for another recipe.

Recipe for Butter Tart Filling to follow.  Stay tuned.