The Butter Tart
The butter tart is a beloved Canadian dessert with a rich history. Its origins can be traced back to the late 1600s when young French women, known as the Filles du Roi, were sent to New France (now Quebec) to help populate the colony. These women brought their baking skills and adapted their recipes to the ingredients available, creating early versions of what would become the butter tart.
The first documented recipe for butter tarts appeared in 1900 in the Women's Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook in Barrie, Ontario. This recipe featured a simple yet delicious filling made of butter, sugar, syrup, and eggs, baked in a pastry shell. Over the years, the butter tart has evolved, with variations including the addition of raisins, nuts, or other flavorings.
Butter tarts became particularly popular in Ontario, where they are celebrated with festivals and tours dedicated to this iconic treat. The debate over whether to include raisins in butter tarts remains a hot topic among Canadians, highlighting the dessert's cultural significance and the passionate following it has garnered.
