Butter tart

Abutter tart(French:tarte au beurre) is a type of smallpastrytart highly regarded inCanadian cuisine. The sweet tart consists of a filling ofbutter,sugar, syrup, andegg, baked in apastryshell until the filling is semi-solid with a crunchy top.The butter tart should not be confused withbutter pie(a savoury pie from thePrestonarea ofLancashire,England) or withbread and butter pudding.
Recipes for the butter tart vary according to the families baking them. Because of this, the appearance and physical characteristics of the butter tart – the firmness of its pastry, or the consistency of its filling – also vary.
Traditionally, theEnglish Canadiantartconsists of butter, sugar, and eggs in a pastry shell, similar to the French-Canadiansugar pie, or the base of the U.S.pecan piewithout thenuttopping. The butter tart is different from the sugar pie given the lack of flour in the filling.The butter tart is different frompecan piein that it has a "runnier" filling due to the omission ofcorn starch. Oftenraisins,walnuts, orpecansare added to the traditional butter tart, although the acceptability of such additions is a matter of national debate.As an iconic Canadian food and one of the most popular desserts in the country, the raisin-or-no-raisin question can provoke polarizing debate.
More exotic flavours are also produced by some bakers. Examples such asmaple,bacon,pumpkin spice,chili, andsalted caramelcardamomflavours have been made for competitions.
Butter tarts became common in Canadian pioneer cooking, and they remain a characteristic pastry of Canada. It is primarily eaten in and associated with the English-speaking provinces ofCanada.
The butter tart is a derivative of one or more of the following:
The earliest published Canadian recipe is fromBarrie, Ontario, dating back to 1900 and can be found in The Women's Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook,to which a chef by the name of Mrs. Mary Ethel MacLeod submitted the recipe for a butter tart filling.The original cookbook and recipe is housed at the Simcoe County Archives.Another early publication of a butter tart recipe was found in a 1915 pie cookbook.The food was an integral part of early Canadian cuisine and often viewed as a source of pride.
Similar tarts are made in Scotland, where they are often referred to asEcclefechan butter tartsfrom the town ofEcclefechan.  InFrance, they are related to the much more commontarte à la frangipane, that differs from the basic Canadian recipe only by the addition of ground almonds.
Butter tarts are an integral part of Central Canadian cuisine and are objects of cultural pride of many communities acrossOntarioand other provinces in central Canada.This cultural and community connection with the tart has spawned butter tart themed tourism such as the Butter Tart festival atMuskoka Lakes, Ontario,the trademarked "Butter Tart Trail" atWellington North, Ontario, and the "Butter Tart Tour" inKawarthas Northumberland, Ontario.The two competing associations have since resolved their dispute, called "The Butter Tart Wars" byCanadian Living,through the mutual agreement to modify "The Butter Tart Tour" to "Kawarthas Northumberland Butter Tart Tour".The first Kawarthas Northumberland Butter Tart Tour Taste-Off was launched at the Flavour Festival in Peterborough on Sunday, April 28, 2013, where four bakeries were crowned winners by a panel of celebrity judges.
Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival and Contest is an annual event held inMidland, Ontario.The contest portion of the festival attracts bakers from across Ontario, and is Canada's largest butter tart–themed celebration, with over 50,000 tarts sold in the festival market in 2014.
National Geographicrecognized the significance of the butter tart in an article on Georgian Bay, Ontario. In October 2013, referring to a stand in Wasaga Beach, they stated that "It's the homemade Canadian butter tarts – flaky crust with gooey pecan filling – that set this place apart from other lakeside ice cream stands."
The production of butter tarts in Canada slowed after a flood in Quebec, in April 2019, striking a major production centre. Global News reported the Vachon bakery in Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce had to be evacuated after a long-term flood. In July, Global News reported the bakery was slowly getting back to speed.
As part of the "Sweet Canada" series, a commemorative postage stamp was issued by Canada Post in April 2019 to celebrate the butter tart.
The Canadian alternative rock bandLenreferenced butter tarts on their 1999 international hit "Steal My Sunshine", which confused some non Canadian listeners.