Buttertart Recipe in the US.
When you live in a certain area or country you don’t realize that many things that you think are “normal” are actually very specific to where you’re at. I grew up East of Toronto, Ontario, Canada outside the Town of Brooklin. The rabbit ears on our tv picked up more US stations from Buffalo than local stations. Cable and satellite were not options at that time. One advantage was the Saturday morning cartoons and the tidbits of US history that we absorbed. It took a long time before Canadian TV realized that history needed to be interesting and in short, bits to get to the kids. And don’t forget about the classical music in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. But back to the story. I just assumed that the world knew about Buttertarts. They were always a treat and just seemed like something every kid got when their mom’s or aunts did some baking.
Then I started finding out some of my friends had had some but there were normally store bought. What? Why would you bother?
The next step was my cousins making them and selling the Buttertarts with the pies at the roadside stand. This expanded into orchards and sweet corn and golf courses and is still strong today. I would stop by and buy some of the Buttertarts and take them to some people I worked with.
Finally, after many years I moved to the US and was unable to get my hands on them. On a trip back to Canada I got the recipe from mom and got some hints from my cousin and then it was my turn. I searched for all of the hardware I would need and cleaned off the counter. There are a few different methods and I had to think back to my job as a kid when mom was making them remember some of the steps. As in most good family recipes what’s written on the paper only covers part of what you need to do. Also just because it’s on the paper doesn’t mean that’s actually the ingredients. After a couple of hours and a lot of flour on the counter and me and the floor, I had a batch of Canadian sweetness.
Although they are never quite the same as moms I feel like I held my own. So beware America. Deep in the Heart of Dixie is a Canadian guy making Buttertarts You can look up some recipes online but unfortunately this family secret is staying in the family.
Should you still be in Ontario the place to go for this family recipe is Hy-Hope Farm? Check them out and tell them Ken sent you for the Buttertarts.
If you have any comments please post them below.
Ken
