This month’s Baking-Eggless Group’s challenge was to make Canadian favorite desert “Butter Tarts” in eggless version. Its very obvious from the name Butter Tarts that this desert is loaded with butter. So skinny cooks be aware, this one is not for you. But people who really want to have a sample of divine taste at least once in your lifetime go ahead and read more. The thought of making this desert made me go to the gym in the morning so I can indulge without guilt. The process of making the crust was pretty straightforward and needed no egg substitution. For the filling though, I substituted the eggs in the recipe with silken tofu. I was speechless after tasting the tarts, it was so good with flaky crust and melt in your mouth filling. Of course after all that butter that I added these tarts are bound to taste delicious and you just can not go wrong with this recipe. If not for this challenge I would just run away from making this dish after seeing the amount of butter required and would have missed tasting this wonderful tart. I guess the habit of exercising will kick in more just so I can enjoy this tart. Try it at least once and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Recipe for the Crust (This crust recipe is a basic Pie Crust recipe and can be used in many dishes)

Ingredients:

All purpose flour — 2 1/2 cups

Granulated Sugar — 1 Tbsp

Salt — 1 tsp

Unsalted butter (Chilled and cut in to cubes) — 1 cup

Ice water — 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Combine All purpose flour and sugar well. In a food processor or using a pastry knife (if you don’t have either the food processor or pastry knife, use your fingertips) blend in the butter with the flour. The flour should become like crumbs.

2. Add ice water and mix in with the flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the flour mixture can be lumped together. In a counter top or clean surface, lump together all the flour together and make 2 discs from the dough. (Note: We need only 1 disc for the butter tart recipe. You can half the measurements and make only 1 disc or make the entire recipe and freeze one disc and use the other). Cover the discs with a plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.

Recipe for the filling:

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter — 1/3 cup (softened)

Light Brown Sugar — 1 cup

Silken tofu (blended) –3/8 cup (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp)

Vanilla Extract — 1 tsp

Light cream (half & half) — 1/4 cup

Raisins — 1/4 cup

Chopped roasted almonds — 1/4 cup

Method:

1. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add the blended silken tofu and combine well. Stir in vanilla extract and combine well. Add the cream. (Note: I was so tempted to add more milk or tofu because the filling will not be as runny as the egg version. Please don’t add more liquid to make it runny. The filling will be thick and thats fine).

Recipe for Butter Tarts:

1. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and on a lightly floured surface roll the dough in to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 4″ rounds using a cookie cutter (I used a lid as I didn’t have a 4″ cookie cutter). Place the rounds on a muffin pan or small ramekins and press in the center to mould the dough in to a cup inside the muffin pan. Cover the muffin pan and refrigerator for about 30-60 minutes.

2. Add about 1 – 1-1/2 tablespoon of filling inside each of the cups. Bake in 375F for about 15-20 minutes until the butter filling turns golden brown and the crust is lightly brown. Remove from oven and let it cool completely. Slide a knife around the edges to remove the tarts from the muffin pan. Enjoy!!!