Forty Creek Butter Tarts
Here’s a little number I shared with the folks at Forty Creek Whiskey a number of years ago. It’s been very popular for them, used to be posted on their website when they still had recipes on it, and often pops up in my Facebook feed to this day.
I DID leave out one step that I do in the instructions I gave them. Personally, I think it’s the most important one, in retrospect. It was a simple thing I didn’t do originally, but decided to try a batch or two in … and it DOES make a difference in the finished product. I’ll add that to the instructions so you don’t miss it.
Also, feel free to try increasing the quantity of whiskey in the mix – but be warned!! There comes a point where the alcohol won’t entirely bake out (a good thing if that’s where you’re going with it) – and it actually prevents the filling from setting up. It will stay a bit too liquidy. I have had tipsy co-workers who can vouch for this on a batch a pushed things a bit too far.
Sometimes I’ve felt adventurous and made my own pastry. This results in a much larger butter tart, since I use muffin tins in this case. Cut the number of tarts about in half if you go that route. But I’m normally pretty lazy when it comes to pastry-making, so I just buy the pre-made frozen stuff that’s ready to fill and pop in the oven. They’re smaller, but you get more of them.
Either way, they’re bloody delicious and always disappear quickly! ENJOY!!
Forty Creek Butter Tarts
A Canadian favourite – with a couple of non-traditional twists from pure maple syrup and Forty Creek Whiskey!
Servings: 24 tarts
Equipment
- Smal bowl
- Baking sheet
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
Ingredients
Tart shells
- 2 dozen frozen tart shells
Filling
- 1 cup raisins could be more or less … I don't think I've ever measured them! Will pay attention in the future. LOL
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar the darker, the tastier
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ¼ cup Forty Creek Whiskey
- 1 egg large
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Pre-soak your raisins
- This is the most important step in getting plumper, juicier raisins in your tarts that retain more whiskey flavour.
- About an hour before you're ready to start, add the Forty Creek Whiskey and your raisins to a small bowl.
- If the raisins are not fully submerged, mix them up a little about a half hour in.
Prepare tart shells
- If you're making your own, follow whatever recipe you're working with. If you're cheating, like me, pull the box out of the freezer and set the tart shells out on baking sheets for about 10 minutes to defrost. This will also allow them to separate more easily.
Pre-heat oven to 350°
Prepare the filling
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the salt, dark brown sugar, maple syrup, and melted butter.
- Drain the Forty Creek Whiskey off of the raisins and into the mixing bowl and whisk into the mixture.
- Take your whiskey-plumped raisins and sprinkle them evenly in the bottom of your tart shells.
- Add the egg to your filling mixture and whisk until everything is well combined.
- Fill your tart shells about ¾ full of filling. If you have extra, top them up slightly to use it up. Be careful not to fill the shells completely or they WILL overflow.
- Bake at 350° until almost set, about 20 minutes.
Notes
I like to check in on them around 16 minutes to see how they look. You want to pull the tarts out of the oven BEFORE they look done, otherwise they’ll end up pretty dry inside.
You can see in the photo how they bubble and puff up while baking. That’s why you have to be careful not to overfill the tart shells.
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