For those of you who come from Eastern Canada, you probably know a thing or two about butter tarts. Oh-so-sweet, often bought on the side of the road, sometimes served on a Styrofoam tray from someone’s grandma.. Well, we took that classic and gave it a summery twist. Ripe summer peaches layered with silky vanilla cream and an OG butter tart filling, all wrapped up in flaky, buttery pastry. Basically, a peach pie, a custard tart and a butter tart had an epic summer together.. (Makes 12 in a standard muffin tray)
Ingredients For The Pastry:
-
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
- ½ cup ice-cold water, plus more if needed
Ingredients Vanilla Cream:
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ¾ tsp vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Ingredients Peach Layer:
- 2–3 ripe peaches
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
-
1 tsp cornstarch
Ingredients Butter Tart Filling:
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup corn syrup
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- ¾ tsp vanilla
- Pinch salt
Instructions:
Make The Pastry:
- Whisk together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the cold butter and cut it into the flour until you have a mixture with pea-sized pieces and a few larger flakes of butter.
- Gradually add the ice water, mixing just until the dough comes together. Don't overwork it — those little pieces of butter are what give you a flaky pastry.
- Form the dough into a disc, wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Make Vanilla Cream:
- While the pastry chills, make the vanilla cream. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a bowl.
- Heat the cream and milk in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming, but do not let boil!
- Slowly whisk the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, then pour everything back into the saucepan.
- Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens to a soft pastry cream consistency.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly.
Prepare Peaches:
- Cut the peaches into small pieces or thin slices and toss gently with the sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch. Set aside while you prepare the remaining components.
Roll And Prepare:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Roll the chilled pastry out on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 12 rounds large enough to fit into a standard muffin tin.
- Gently press the pastry rounds into the muffin cups, making sure the pastry comes slightly above the edges.
- Place the prepared pastry shells in the fridge while you make the butter tart filling.
Make The Butter Tart Filling:
- Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, egg, egg yolk, vanilla and salt until smooth and well combined.
Assemble
- Remove the pastry shells from the fridge.
- Spoon butter tart filling into the shell shell, followed by about 1 tablespoon of vanilla cream, then add a few pieces of peaches to the top.
- Be careful not to overfill! The butter tart filling will bubble up as it bakes (sometimes It's good to place the muffin tin on a baking sheet)
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is deeply golden and the butter tart filling is bubbling around the edges.
- The centres should still have a slight jiggle when they come out of the oven. They will continue to set as they cool.
- Let the butter tarts cool in the muffin tin for 10–15 minutes.
Tip: These are especially good once they've cooled enough for the vanilla cream and butter tart filling to set, but are still a little soft in the centre
