Butter Tart (Canadian Gooey Brown Sugar Tart)
Butter tarts are a Canadian institution -- small pastry shells filled with a mixture of butter, brown sugar, eggs, and corn syrup or maple syrup, baked until the edges set while the center remains gloriously gooey and molten. The brown sugar creates a toffee-like depth that goes well beyond ordinary sweetness, and the egg binds the filling into something suspended between liquid caramel and soft custard. The pastry shell must be baked firm enough to hold the sticky interior without softening, delivering a shatteringly crisp, flaky contrast with every bite. Getting that balance right between a set edge and a still-flowing center is the defining technical challenge of the recipe -- a few minutes too long in the oven and the filling turns grainy and tight. Some versions fold in plump raisins, chopped walnuts, or pecans for texture and flavor, though committed purists argue the unadulterated butter filling needs no embellishment. Served slightly warm, the caramel fragrance intensifies and the center flows freely; cooled to room temperature, the filling firms to a pleasant, chewy consistency that holds its shape when cut. Either way, the ratio of buttery, molten center to a shatteringly crisp pastry defines a properly made butter tart, and the debate between runny-center and firm-center devotees is one Canada has never quite settled.
Adjust Servings
Instructions
- 1
Melt butter and combine with brown sugar.
- 2
Whisk in egg, cream, and vanilla to make the filling.
- 3
Add raisins to tart shells and fill about 80% with mixture.
- 4
Bake at 190C for 20-22 minutes.
- 5
Remove when centers still jiggle slightly and cool to set.
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Goes Well With
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