When I started my blog two months ago I planned to keep up and post regularly. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, midterm exams hit with final papers, formal lab reports, bell-ringer exams and tutorial tests close on their heels. Needless to say all of my blogging good intentions (and my social life) went out the window and I retreated from 'life' for a couple of months. Today, however, I am re-emerging into the world of the living. Although I still have a few exams to go (which, in all honesty, I should be studying for right now) I decided to give myself a break and (finally!) update my blog.
To all of those who don't know me I should let you know that I am a BIG fan of Christmas. Growing up my mother always made the season very special for me and my siblings - reading Christmas stories to us, taking us to see Santa and to watch Christmas films, making an event of trimming the tree and decorating the house, and letting us help (hinder) her with her Christmas cooking and baking. She taught us about the true spirit of the season and, through her actions, we learned the importance of giving of oneself and of letting all those in our lives know how much they are valued.
In past years I have expressed my thankfulness for friendships at Christmas time by purchasing gifts. Though I hoped that the gifts given were useful, my greatest desire was that they (the gifts) express to the receiver how much I cared for and valued their presence in my life. Although I recognized that my desire for such a 'perfect' gift for each of my friends was rather unrealistic, I refused to give in and I would spend days and weeks scouring the malls and surfing the net. Needless to say gift shopping became a very difficult, time consuming and arduous task and, sadly, I was rarely satisfied with the gifts that I gave. Then a couple of years ago, at the height of my frustration, a friend suggested that I replace gift-shopping with gift-making. Her words were a revelation for me - instead of becoming anxious and stressed about finding the perfect gift for each of my friends I grew excited about the jars of jams, jellies and preserves and the baskets and tins of breads, biscuits, bars, cookies, cakes, candies and tarts I could give. Suddenly I fully understood what my mother had been teaching me - that giving of oneself, whether it be through music, food, stories, handcrafted items, or time spent together, is the most cherished and valuable gift that can given or received.
Yesterday I began my gift baking for the Christmas 2006 season. Though most of these tarts were tucked away in the freezer following their emergence from the oven, I did munch on a 'sample' today. They are quite delicious and I can almost guarantee that any of your friends or family would be grateful for such a gift from your kitchen.
Stay tuned over the coming weeks for more gifts from my kitchen. . .
Butter Tarts
The pastry recipe is from Crisco Brand shortening. I know that many of you epicures will be cringing at the lack of unsalted butter in my pastry, but I find butter based pastry too heavy and not nearly flakey enough. For those who simply cannot bear to prepare a vegetable shortening based parstry then use your preferred recipe, ensuring that you have sufficient dough to make two dozen tart shells (a double crust pastry recipe should be sufficient). Finally to those who normally use lard in their pastry DO NOT replace the vegetable shortening with lard. Lard and vegetable shortening have different levels of hydration and are not interchangeable in pastry recipes.
The Butter Tart filling recipe has been developed by me after years of testing. Though I will likely still tweak the recipes a bit more in the coming years, it is approaching my idea of what a butter tart SHOULD be. I hope that you enjoy it.
Pastry
2 cups All-purpose flour
¾ tsp salt
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg
2 tbsp ice cold water
1 tbsp vinegar
In a large bowl whisk together the flour and the salt. Cut in the shortening by gently rubbing the flour/salt mixture with the shortening between your fingertips. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, water and vinegar. Make a well in the center of the flour shortening mixture and pour in the liquid mixture. Gently toss the flour and liquid mixture together until a shaggy dough is formed. Dump the contents of the bowl onto a clean surface and gently knead the until a ball is formed (knead no more then ten times). Divide the ball in two and re-shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for approximately 30 minutes.
Filling
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
2 eggs
½ tsp vinegar
1 ½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp. salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
⅓ cup fresh sunmaid raisins
⅓ cup chopped walnuts
Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, eggs, vinegar, vanilla and salt.
Pre-heat an oven to 350°F and set aside two X 12 muffin cup tins, or a 12-muffin cup tin and a 24 mini muffin cup tin. Remove pastry from fridge and roll out the dough in such a way as to maximize the number of tart shells that can be cut from it. Cut pastry using a circular cookie cutter, approximately ⅓ “ larger in diameter then the muffin cup. Line the muffin cups with the pastry ensuring that the pastry does not break (you DO NOT want the tart filling to leak into the muffin tin. . .it makes for a very unpleasant clean-up). Re-roll the scraps and re-cut until you have used up all of your pastry. I tend to go a little thick on the pastry, for fear of leaks, so I get 18 regular sized tart shells from my pastry recipe. You should, however, be able to get 24 shells from a double pie crust recipe.
Evenly distribute the raisins and walnuts between the tart shells. Pour the liquid filling over the raisins and walnuts ensuring that tart shells are no more then ⅔ full (the filling bubbles up in the oven and if it flows out of the tart shell into the muffin cup then you will not be able to remove the tarts from the pan). Bake the prepared tarts, rotating part way through baking, in the preheated oven for approximately 15-20 minutes or until the pastry has a golden hue. Cool the tarts completely before removing from the muffin cups. Store the tarts in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, or in the freezer for up to two months.
Enjoy!
To all of those who don't know me I should let you know that I am a BIG fan of Christmas. Growing up my mother always made the season very special for me and my siblings - reading Christmas stories to us, taking us to see Santa and to watch Christmas films, making an event of trimming the tree and decorating the house, and letting us help (hinder) her with her Christmas cooking and baking. She taught us about the true spirit of the season and, through her actions, we learned the importance of giving of oneself and of letting all those in our lives know how much they are valued.
In past years I have expressed my thankfulness for friendships at Christmas time by purchasing gifts. Though I hoped that the gifts given were useful, my greatest desire was that they (the gifts) express to the receiver how much I cared for and valued their presence in my life. Although I recognized that my desire for such a 'perfect' gift for each of my friends was rather unrealistic, I refused to give in and I would spend days and weeks scouring the malls and surfing the net. Needless to say gift shopping became a very difficult, time consuming and arduous task and, sadly, I was rarely satisfied with the gifts that I gave. Then a couple of years ago, at the height of my frustration, a friend suggested that I replace gift-shopping with gift-making. Her words were a revelation for me - instead of becoming anxious and stressed about finding the perfect gift for each of my friends I grew excited about the jars of jams, jellies and preserves and the baskets and tins of breads, biscuits, bars, cookies, cakes, candies and tarts I could give. Suddenly I fully understood what my mother had been teaching me - that giving of oneself, whether it be through music, food, stories, handcrafted items, or time spent together, is the most cherished and valuable gift that can given or received.
Yesterday I began my gift baking for the Christmas 2006 season. Though most of these tarts were tucked away in the freezer following their emergence from the oven, I did munch on a 'sample' today. They are quite delicious and I can almost guarantee that any of your friends or family would be grateful for such a gift from your kitchen.
Stay tuned over the coming weeks for more gifts from my kitchen. . .
Butter Tarts
The pastry recipe is from Crisco Brand shortening. I know that many of you epicures will be cringing at the lack of unsalted butter in my pastry, but I find butter based pastry too heavy and not nearly flakey enough. For those who simply cannot bear to prepare a vegetable shortening based parstry then use your preferred recipe, ensuring that you have sufficient dough to make two dozen tart shells (a double crust pastry recipe should be sufficient). Finally to those who normally use lard in their pastry DO NOT replace the vegetable shortening with lard. Lard and vegetable shortening have different levels of hydration and are not interchangeable in pastry recipes.
The Butter Tart filling recipe has been developed by me after years of testing. Though I will likely still tweak the recipes a bit more in the coming years, it is approaching my idea of what a butter tart SHOULD be. I hope that you enjoy it.
Pastry
2 cups All-purpose flour
¾ tsp salt
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg
2 tbsp ice cold water
1 tbsp vinegar
In a large bowl whisk together the flour and the salt. Cut in the shortening by gently rubbing the flour/salt mixture with the shortening between your fingertips. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, water and vinegar. Make a well in the center of the flour shortening mixture and pour in the liquid mixture. Gently toss the flour and liquid mixture together until a shaggy dough is formed. Dump the contents of the bowl onto a clean surface and gently knead the until a ball is formed (knead no more then ten times). Divide the ball in two and re-shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for approximately 30 minutes.
Filling
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
2 eggs
½ tsp vinegar
1 ½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp. salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
⅓ cup fresh sunmaid raisins
⅓ cup chopped walnuts
Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, eggs, vinegar, vanilla and salt.
Pre-heat an oven to 350°F and set aside two X 12 muffin cup tins, or a 12-muffin cup tin and a 24 mini muffin cup tin. Remove pastry from fridge and roll out the dough in such a way as to maximize the number of tart shells that can be cut from it. Cut pastry using a circular cookie cutter, approximately ⅓ “ larger in diameter then the muffin cup. Line the muffin cups with the pastry ensuring that the pastry does not break (you DO NOT want the tart filling to leak into the muffin tin. . .it makes for a very unpleasant clean-up). Re-roll the scraps and re-cut until you have used up all of your pastry. I tend to go a little thick on the pastry, for fear of leaks, so I get 18 regular sized tart shells from my pastry recipe. You should, however, be able to get 24 shells from a double pie crust recipe.
Evenly distribute the raisins and walnuts between the tart shells. Pour the liquid filling over the raisins and walnuts ensuring that tart shells are no more then ⅔ full (the filling bubbles up in the oven and if it flows out of the tart shell into the muffin cup then you will not be able to remove the tarts from the pan). Bake the prepared tarts, rotating part way through baking, in the preheated oven for approximately 15-20 minutes or until the pastry has a golden hue. Cool the tarts completely before removing from the muffin cups. Store the tarts in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, or in the freezer for up to two months.
Enjoy!
