Maple Syrup Tarts

Originally published on April 30, 2016

It’s time for the Festival of Maples here in Perth, Ontario! Today our little town becomes frantic with  maple syrup vendors and people who want the sugary stuff in any form it comes in. I too, will be playing a part, while I’m at the restaurant trying to get our maple features out to the masses as quickly as possible. Before I do though, I just had to share a bit of the maple syrup goodness with you, and these maple syrup tarts fit the bill.

Made mostly of brown sugar and maple syrup it would be easy to think that these tarts would be cloyingly sweet, but they’re a lot like butter tarts with the distinctive taste of maple syrup that lingers just long enough for you to reflect again on how much you love it.  And while you can go to all trouble of making pastry dough from scratch, for these I just pulled some tart shells out of the freezer and had half the battle fought for me already.

Ingredients:

  • 12 frozen tart shells
  • 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons butter, melted
  • Pinch of salt

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Separate frozen shells and place them on a baking sheet.

2.) Whisk together the brown sugar and eggs until creamy. Add cream, maple syrup, and butter, and whisk until smooth.

3.) Ladle the maple syrup mixture into the tart shells, filling them almost right to the top of the shells.

4.) Bake tarts in the lower third of the oven until pastry is golden and filling is puffed and looks dry, but still trembles slightly.

5.) Remove tarts from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring tarts to a wire rack to cool completely. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

6.) Serve and enjoy!