This recipe was originally published in the award-winning cookbook Cake & Loaf Gatherings by Nickey Miller and Josie Rudderham (Penguin, 2023). Reprinted here with permission.
Ingredients:
Butter Pastry:
- 1 ½ batches Butter Pastry (recipe follows)
Filling:
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and room temperature
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ cup golden corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cooked 1-inch pieces bacon (14 ounces/400 g uncooked)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Generously grease a 12-cup muffin pan with canola oil cooking spray.
- Prepare the tart shells: Roll out the butter pastry dough to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out twelve 5-inch circles of dough. Gently press the dough circles into the muffin cups, making sure not to stretch the dough and forming walls that extend about ½ inch above the rims of the muffin cups. Place the muffin pan in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes while you make the filling to allow the pastry to relax and firm up a bit.
- Make the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in the melted butter. Add the eggs and continue whisking until the mixture is smooth and no oil film remains around the edges.
- Whisk in the maple syrup, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated.
- Fill and bake the tarts: Remove the muffin pan from the refrigerator and add ½ tablespoon of bacon pieces to each tart shell. Pour the filling over the bacon, filling each tart shell level with the pan, leaving about ½-inch headspace of pastry for the filling to bubble up as it cooks. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the filling has puffed up above the tart and the pastry is deep golden brown. The filling will settle as it cools. Using a small offset palette knife, remove the tarts from the pan immediately so that they do not stick to the pan as they cool.
Do Ahead:
The butter pastry can be made ahead, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. If frozen, thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using. The pastry circles can be rolled, cut, and stored in the refrigerator, covered with beeswax or plastic wrap, for up to 2 days. The filling can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Serve the tarts warm, reheated in the oven at 350ºF (180ºC) for 5 to 10 minutes. Store, covered, at room temperature for 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
Butter Pastry
Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, frozen
- ½ cup cold water, more if needed
- 1 ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Method:
- Grate the frozen butter on the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl. Place in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes to make sure the butter remains frozen.
- In a liquid measuring cup, mix the cold water, sugar, and salt until the solids are fully dissolved. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Remove the bowl from the freezer and toss the flour with the grated butter to distribute the butter evenly throughout the flour.
- Using a fork, mix the cold water mixture into the flour mixture, causing as little friction as possible, until you have a shaggy dough. You want to try to maintain those butter pieces. Resist the urge to add more water unless absolutely necessary to bring the pastry together into a shaggy dough with just a little dry flour. If needed, add 2 to 3 more tablespoons of cold water to the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Bring the pastry together by gently folding it into a rough disc, then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling out.
Do Ahead:
Store pastry wrapped tightly in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. If frozen, thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using.