Pastry
- 2-1/4 cups pastry flour (AP flour works too)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
- 1/2 cup shortening, cubed and frozen
- 6 tbsp ice water
–
Filling
- 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 cup golden corn syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
–
* * Some people love pecans, chocolate chips, coconut, crispy bacon…particulates are entirely up to you. Mix them up or leave the tarts plain.
–
Method Pastry
1. Add flour and salt to a mixing bowl or, in the bowl of a food processor and combine.
2. Add your butter and shortening and use a pastry blender, or pulse in a food processor to coat your flour in fat. Mixture could be coarse, and there should be pea sized pieces of shortening and butter in your coarse mixture, your flour should begin to clump.
3. Drizzle water over the top of the mixture and allow it to soak in for about 30 seconds.
4. Using a fork, toss the mixture until the water in incorporated at dough begins to form. If using a food processor, pulse your machine until dough just starts to come together.
5. Gently press dough in to a ball and flatten in to a disk.
6. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill dough for 30 minutes.
–
Filling Method
1. In a small lot, melt your butter and set aside.
2. In a large measuring cup, measure the golden corn syrup.
3. Add the brown sugar, vanilla, salt and eggs and mix well.
4. Allow melted butter to cool slightly, then add to the corn syrup mixture and combine.
5. Make filling when tart shells are chilling for 30 minutes, and oven is pre-heating.
–
Assembly
1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Remove dough form the fridge, liberally dust work surface with flour and roll to about 1/8” thick.
2. Using a 4” round cutter, cut pastry and fit in to a standard sized muffin tin (you do not need to grease the tins). Repeat this process, you should have enough pastry for 16 tarts. You can re-roll your scrap pastry dough, DO NOT knead the dough, this will make it tough. Instead, gather the pieces and squeeze them together to re-roll.
3. Once you’ve placed your tart shell in to the pan(s), chill for 30 minutes.
4. Make filling while tart shells chill.
5. Pour filling in to tart shells 3/4 full.
6. Bake on lower rack of oven for 17-20 minutes, or until pasty is golden.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
8. Run a knife around the shell to ensure they are not stuck to the tin (if the filling bubbles over the edge of your shell, it caramelizes…super yummy but sticky) .
9. Once cool, gentry remove from tin.
– ENJOY!