BUTTER TARTS

When Erik lived in Toronto, he came to love the many snacks and sweets that Canada has to offer.  Among such delights as All-Dressed potato chips (!!!!!) and the Crunchie bar, is the butter tart.  They are very ubiquitous in Canada; the first one I had was in Montreal. I wasn't too impressed, but later had a much better one that our friend brought us back from Vancouver.  YUM!  We wanted to make a fun dessert for our friend last night and found a recipe online that received very good reviews.  I added on my best pastry crust recipe and made Canadian Heaven on earth.  Oh, man.  I am telling you; these are amazing.  You will kill yourself you will want to eat so many.  Here is the recipe!

Ingredients

• pie pastry ( enough to fill 16 muffin cups, your own or from a mix)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup soft butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

1. Prepare muffin pans by rolling out pie dough and cutting 4-inch (approx) circles; fit dough circles into muffin cups; set aside in fridge until ready to fill.
2. In a small bowl, place raisins and cover with hot tap water; let stand on the counter for 30 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix together the soft butter, brown sugar, salt and corn syrup; stir well until sugar is dissolved and butter is creamed.
4. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
5. Drain raisins.
6. Retrieve tart shells and divide raisins equally into all shells; then divide butter mixture into all tarts.
7. Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes; filling will be lightly browned but still bubbling.
8. Canadians fall into two camps about butter tarts and are quite loyal to their favourite type: runny or firm.
9. If you like runny-- the type that dribbles when you bite into one, cook about 15 minutes; if you like firm, bake them for the full 20 minutes, even adding another minute or two if you wish.
10. Let cooked butter tarts cool in pans for 10 minutes after removing from oven; then remove and place on racks until completely cool.