FOOD BY REGION-CANADA

CANADA

Butter Tart

A butter tart is a type of small pastry tart highly regarded in Canadian cuisine and considered one of Canada's quintessential desserts. The tart consists of butter, sugar, syrup, and egg filled into a flaky pastry and baked until the filling is semi-solid with a crunchy top.

The butter tart should not be confused with butter pie (a savoury pie from the Preston  area of Lancashire, England) or with bread and butter pudding.

Recipes for the butter tart vary according to the families baking them. Because of this, the appearance and physical characteristics of the butter tart – the firmness of its pastry, or the consistency of its filling – also varies.

In general, the English Canadian tart consists of butter, sugar, and eggs in a pastry shell, similar to the French-Canadian sugar pie, or the base of the U.S. pecan pie without the nut topping. The butter tart is different from pecan pie in that it has a "runnier" filling due to the omission of corn starch. Raisins are in the traditional butter tart, but walnuts or pecans are commonly added. However purists contend that such additions should not be allowed.

Other additional ingredients may include currants, coconut, dates, butterscotch, chocolate chips, peanut butter, maple syrup or chai.

History

Butter tarts were common in pioneer Canadian cooking, and they remain a characteristic pastry of Canada, considered one of only a few recipes of genuinely Canadian origin (for example, by the 6th edition of the Collins English Dictionary). 

It is primarily eaten and associated with the English-speaking provinces of Canada. However the origins of the tart, its name, and its recipe are unclear. 

Some suggested pastries with similar origins to the butter tart include:

Sugar pie

Sugar pie (tarte au sucre): which possibly came with the arrival of the "King’s Daughter’s" "filles du roj" in Quebec during the 1600s, where the imported brides used maple syrup, butter  and dried fruit to make a possible precursor to modern examples of the butter tart,

Pecan pie

Pecan pie: which possibly came north from the southern United States with the slaves,

Backwards pie: which is found in the maritimes and western Canada and made with corn syrup,

Shoofly pie

Shoofly pie: which is made with molasses and comes from the Pennsylvania Dutch community,

Treacle tart

Treacle tart: which is an English pastry made with golden syrup or treacle.

The earliest published Canadian recipe is from Barries, Ontario dating back to 1900 and can be found in The Women’s Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook. Another early publication of a butter tart recipe was found in a 1915 pie cookbook. 

The food was an integral part of early Canadian cuisine and often viewed as a source of pride.

Similar tarts are made in Scotland, where they are often referred to as Ecclefechan butter tarts from the town of Ecclefechan. In France, they are related to the much more common tarte à la frangipane, that differs from the basic Canadian recipe only by the addition of ground almonds.

Flapper Pie

Flapper pie is a custard pie topped with meringue. The Graham cracker cream pie dates back to the 19th century but entered Western Canadian pop culture in the 20th century as flapper pie.

The pie is a staple of the Canadian prairie culture and can often be found in grocery stores there.

Recipe for Flapper Pie Servings: 8

Ingredients • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs • 1/4 cup white sugar • 1/3 cup butter, softened • 1/2 cup white sugar • 3 tablespoons cornstarch • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 2 cups milk • 2 egg yolks, beaten • 1 tablespoon butter • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract • 3 egg whites • 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions 1. Mix together graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/3 cup softened butter or margarine. Press into a 9 inch pie plate, reserve 1/4 cup for topping. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 8 minutes.

 2. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, flour, and salt in a saucepan. Stir in milk gradually, heating milk a bit at a time. Stir or whisk constantly to avoid lumps. Cook over medium heat, stirring until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Cook 2 minutes more. Add a little of this hot mixture to beaten egg yolks, then stir yolks into hot mixture. Cook 1 minute while stirring. Remove from heat; stir in 1 tablespoon butter or margarine and vanilla. Cool 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, and pour into crumb crust. Cool completely.

 3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add 1/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff and glossy. Spread meringue over filling, and against the edge of crust to seal. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs.

4. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) just until meringue is golden, about 4 to 5 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Figgy duff

Figgy duff is a traditional Canadian bag pudding from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador most commonly served as a part of a Jiggs dinner. It is sometimes called a raisin duff since figs are rarely used and have been replaced by the more attainable raisin.

One traditional recipe lists the ingredients as breadcrumbs, raisins, brown sugar, molasses, butter, flour, and spices. These are mixed and put in a pudding bag, wrapped in cheesecloth, or stuffed into an empty can and then boiled, usually along with the cooking vegetables of the Jiggs dinner.-wikipedia