Sweet Pies Event Avec Maple Butter Tarts

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here in Canada it is a long weekend being the Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations. It is held earlier in the "Great White North" on the 2nd Monday in October. If you want to read the history and understand the difference between the Canadian and American Thanksgiving feel free to enter here.

In the meantime is there anything...ANYTHING at all that is so universally well known as Canadian as the Butter Tart???????????? The country is divided about what a butter tart should be. Is it gooey or custardy???? This recipe is not a traditional butter tart recipe due to fact that it uses maple syrup..but it is more in the "custardy" camp than "gooey". I love both types...it does not matter to me as long as it has nuts and raisins....I am there!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am entering this traditional Canadian fare into my blog sister Ivy's event this month Sweet Pies . Ivy is my adopted sister from Kopiaste blogging out of Athens, Greece. Last months Savory Pies event was such a huge success so on to the SWEETS!!!! " Phyllo in Greek, means a sheet (in this case a sheet of pastry) which will be used with the filling of your choice. " Ivy and I have become good friends over the past year with a love for Greek food and trying new and innovative dishes. I wouldn't miss her event for the world!!!!!

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all our blessings. I give thanks for friends and family. L'il Burnt Toast and I celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday with a luncheon at St. Hubertus Winery. It was a part of the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival which is a 10 day event listed as one of the Top 100 Things to do In North America. We dined with many locals and tourists alike and sat beside an entourage from Mexico City who were touring our area and writing for a travel magazine. I am spending the afternoon with some friends who have invited me for the traditional turkey feast at their place. As my contribution I am bringing these tarts (and a bottle of wine of course)...after all who has room for dessert after all that turkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you want to try a typically Canadian treat go for a Butter Tart!!!!!!!!!!!! My friends daughter does not enjoy pastry so I opted for making half with puff pastry instead.... oh mon ça alors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A little history.....The English Canadian tart consists of butter, sugar and eggs in a pastry shell, similar to the base of the U. S. pecan pie without the nut topping, and similar to the French-Canadian sugar pie. Additional ingredients can include raisins, pecans, walnuts, coconut, dates, butterscotch, chocolate chips or peanut butter. Butter tarts were a staple of pioneer Canadian cooking, and they remain a characteristic pastry of Canada, considered one of only a few recipes genuinely Canadian quoted from the 6th edition of the Collins English Dictionary. One of the earliest known Canadian recipes is from northern Ontario and dates back to 1915.

Similar tarts are made in Scotland, where they are often referred to as Ecclefechan butter tarts from the town of Ecclefechan; and in France where they are related to tarte à la frangipane which includes ground almonds.

Butter tarts are said to have been a favourite treat of Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald.

**Maple Butter Tarts**

1 single crust pastry

Maple Syrup Filling:

3/4 cup (175 mL) packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) maple syrup
1/3 cup (75 mL) butter, melted
2 eggs
1 T (15 mL)cider vinegar
1/2 (2 mL)tsp salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) walnut halves, chopped
1/4 cuo(50 mL) dried raisins

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Set out muffin or tart pans with twelve cups.

On lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to a generous 1/8-inch thickness. Using 4-inch round cutter, cut out 12 circles, rerolling scraps. Fit into muffin cups; refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Filling: Meanwhile, in bowl, whisk together brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, eggs, cider vinegar and salt. Divide walnuts and raisins evenly among pastry shells. Spoon scant 1/4 cup (50 mL) filling into each shell.

Bake in centre of 350F (180C) oven until filling is set and pastry is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Run thin knife blade around edges to release tarts. Let cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Transfer to rack; let cool. They can be stored in single layer in airtight container at room temperature for 1 day.

Makes 1 dozen tarts