Cranberry Raisin Butter Tarts

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Tomorrow is the St. Philip’s Roast Beef Dinner. We decided that for dessert, we will be offering several bite size options. I decided to contribute something, and am going with my Cranberry Raisin Butter Tarts.

This post is from 2014. Although I originally wrote it in conjunction with that year’s Roast Beef Dinner at St. Philip’s, I’ve found that in the ensuing years it’s a more popular read around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Cranberry Raisin Buttertart pre-syrup
Tart fillings waiting for the syrup to be added.

This was a recipe I decide to adapt several years ago. I took a standard butter tart recipe and made it Cranberry Raisin. Part of the reason was that when I was buying the shells(I don’t make my own pastry) they were only available as 12s or 30s. The 30s were a lot cheaper by unit, plus, I liked the idea of something that would cut some of the sweetness out of your typical butter tart. It was the height of the holiday season when I first made them so that Cranberries were also a good buy (Hey, I’m Scottish)

Cranberry Raisin Butter Tarts Recipe:

30 – 3 inch tart shells
1- cup corn syrup
2/3 – cup brown sugar (I almost always use demerera in recipes that call for brown sugar
2 – eggs slightly beaten
1/4 – cup butter
1 – 300 gram bag fresh cranberries
200 grams Thompson Seedless Raisins
100 grams slivered or sliced almonds
1 tbl frozen Orange Juice concentrate
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Oven ready Cranberry Raisin Butter Tarts
The tarts already to go into the oven.

If you want to do things quickly, mix your cranberries, raisins, and almonds into the syrup. I prefer to start with those ingredients. I add 3 or 4 cranberries to each shell, followed by the raisins, followed by the almonds. I find when I do that I can easily guarantee that each of the tarts has some solids as part of it’s filling.

Cranberry Raisin Buttertart Batch
The whole batch, fresh out of the oven. Well, when I say whole batch, I may have sampled one or two already.

I then mix all the other ingredients together in a medium to heavy saucepan on the stove. It’s helpful to bring the butter up to room temperature before you add the sugar and corn syrup. When I measure the corn syrup, I generally fill a one cup measure and let it overflow a bit. That way I always get the full one cup.
Beat the melted brown sugar into the eggs. I then add the orange juice concentrate, salt, and vanilla extract into the mixture. Using a small measuring cup, I ladle the syrup into the Cranberry Raisin mixture. I then put in the oven at 175 degrees C or 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. I then check them and either remove or allow extra time for the pastry to brown a little more.

Cranberry Raisin Buttertart single
A single Cranberry Raisin Buttertart after baking. A little browner than I like but still very tasty.

 

More Recipes

If you read the blog regularly you know I’m not big into recipes. However, here are a few posts that contain some of the recipes I have tried.

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