BACON RUM BUTTER TARTS

When was the last time you went to Clematis Street or Las Olas Boulevard with your friends for a night out dining on fine Canadian Cuisine? Okay, I know that Canadian Bacon doesn’t actually come from Canada. But, other than poutine (French fries with cheese curds and lamb gravy), what is Canada known for, food wise?

“Peter” is a Canadian who owns a 90 foot yacht that I captain, on call. Yesterday, he sent me a couple of links about a summer time treat that folks in Ontario go absolutely bonkers over- Butter Tarts! Sensing a hint, I delved into the story.

”Butter Tart Trail” is a 30km stretch of rural Highway 6, with 18 different bakeries, markets and stores. Kenilworth, a town of 11,500 people in the middle of “the trail,” sells thousands of tarts a week. Business is so good that there is a rural battle going on over butter tarts. When the town of Wellington North heard about Kawartha Lakes, a 3 hour drive to the east, had begun their own butter tart tour, cease-and-desist letters were sent and lawsuits contemplated. One can imagine The Great Canadian Butter Tart Wars coming to blows over this delicious confection.

The only request from Peter was, “not nuts or raisins.” He didn’t say anything about the rum and bacon, but then I didn’t tell him. The report back from Peter, “They were perfect!”

INGREDIENTS:
1 box readymade pie pastry (2 crusts)
5 slices bacon, cooked until crispy and chopped
2 stick soft butter
1 c. lightly packed brown sugar
2 c. corn syrup
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. dark rum

PREPARATIONS:

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Cover a cutting board with parchment or wax paper. Roll out the pie dough and cut with a 3 ½” round cookie cutter to make the pastry shells. Save the leftover dough for repairs or roll it out again to make more shells. Coat your 9 count 3” mini-muffin pans (x 4 for this recipe) with non-stick spray. Carefully line muffin tins with the pastry. Place pans on middle rack of oven and bake until the shells start to brown and remove from oven.

In bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Stir in corn syrup, rum, salt and vanilla. Combine until it is just blended.  Arrange cooked bacon in bottom of the shells. Add mixture into tart shells filling each to about 2/3 full (kitchen hack – use an empty plastic catsup bottle for filling shells). Bake for about 10 minutes. Do not allow filling to bubble over. Let cool before removing tarts. Yield: 36 tarts. Enjoy JW