Every butter tart begins with the basics: flour, sugar, butter, eggs.
But where the classic Canadian treat goes from there is up to the baker. Substitute maple syrup or honey for brown sugar? Add pecans, raisins or even candied beets? Create a new recipe with whiskey, chocolate or pistachios?
Butter tart lovers seem to be divided into two camps. On the one hand are the purists who say only a plain, pecan or raisin butter tart is the real deal. On the other, there are the adventurous fans, always looking for a new taste sensation and willing to give anything a try, including bacon and habanero peppers.
On Saturday, both groups of butter-tart hunters were satisfied at the Bradford Farmers’ Market Butter Tart Festival. Nine vendors brought their butter tarts to the event.
Tammy Jackson of Sweet Annabella’s offered enthusiasts both traditional tarts and a wild array of flavours that included cookies and cream, whiskey apple with caramel, chocolate-covered raisins, lemon, Skor, pistachio maple – reminiscent of Greek baklava pastry – and bacon-maple, breakfast in a tart.
The Polish Baker Ryszard Surdyk produced several “outside the box” butter tarts – including a combination of salted pretzels, raisins, Reese’s Pieces and Dr. Pepper chocolate sauce that sold out in the first hour. “I wanted to go with the sweet, co-mingling with the savoury,” Surdyk said.
He still had a "raisin plain-Jane" butter tart, and an alternative creation: strawberry cream custard, raisins and a raspberry reduction, topped with half a strawberry and a homemade pastry finger, that was as much fun to deconstruct and eat, piece by piece, as it was to look at.
The homemade goodness of Kaszak-Stand sold traditional butter tarts, plus an outstanding brandy-walnut-habanero-honey butter tart.
The Queen of Tarts (Suzanne Grondin) created pumpkin spice and chai spice for the festival. “I was just thinking of what was popular,” she said.
There were gluten-free, nut-free butter tart squares at Coldcreek Stock Co., butter tarts made with habanero peppers, candied beets, walnuts and pecans – enough to produce sugar overload.
There was no butter tart contest this year, but an informal tasting gave thumbs up to Sweet Annabella’s pistachio treat, Kaszak-Stand’s homemade gooey brandy-walnut-habanero-honey tart with its hint of almond, and a surprising entry by Lake Simcoe Coffee Co. that combined flaky pastry, a gooey filling with nuts and a carmelized crunch.
There was also plenty of fresh produce, the artisanal cheeses of Say Cheese, fresh Homestead Eggs, European meats, and Coldcreek Stock Co. meats to balance out the sweets.
The Bradford Farmers’ Market continues to meet Saturday mornings, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. beside the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library at 425 Holland St. W., but the end of the outdoor market is approaching. The final day will be the Saturday of the Thanksgiving weekend, Oct. 6th – when the market celebrates with a Thanksgiving and Artisan Harvest Festival.
Market lovers take note: Although the outdoor market is ending, vendors will return for an indoor farmers’ market at the library on Nov. 3, 10, 17 and 24, and Dec. 1, 15, and 22.
