"More Nanny's" Butter Tarts

Back when Nicholas (now 6) was right around 18 months old, we were visiting my parents.   Growing up, we always called my maternal grandparents "Nanny" (Grandma) and "Poppy" (Grandpa), and we continued that tradition with our own circus clowns, calling my mom Nanny and my dad Poppy.   

There was a slight issue, though.....my maternal grandparents are still alive, and trying to explain which Nanny and which Poppy we were talking about was really confusing the circus clowns.  We needed a way to distinguish between generations of grandparents!

We tried "Great Nanny" and "Great Poppy".... but it didn't stick.

We tried "Nanny G" and "Poppy G".... but it didn't stick.

Nicholas, then 18 months, solved the problem for us during that visit to my parents.   I had been standing in the kitchen, with him on my hip,when my mom walked into the room. 

"Nanny!!" he exclaimed, happily.

Then MY Nanny (grandma) entered into the kitchen.

Nicholas paused, with a confused look on his face.   Then, his face lit up.

"MORE Nanny!!"  he cried!

......and that's what stuck.   "More Nanny" and "More Poppy" became the names that we called my grandparents, while "Nanny" and "Poppy" were reserved for my mom and dad.

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Yesterday, we were stuck in the house during yet another snowstorm (we've gotten something like 37 inches of snow this week, with more predicted for tomorrow night and then again on Wednesday), and with a little boy who had a fever.    We made cookies.....and then Joseph begged to make his favourite dessert:  More Nanny's butter tarts.

Mike, who also loves butter tarts, jumped into the kitchen to help him make them.   Mike will *never* turn down an opportunity for butter tarts!

Since my copy of the recipe is hand-written and on index cards that have seen better days.....I thought I'd also blog about them, so that the recipe is a bit more accessible for future baking days.

Enjoy!

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More Nanny's Butter Tarts

 For the pastry: 

6 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 lb shortening

1 egg

1 tbsp vinegar

cold water

For the filling:

2 eggs

2 cups brown sugar

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 and 1/3 cups currant, chopped raisins, dates, figs, or nutmeats

Step 1:  The Pastry Dough

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Cut in the shortening.   Beat the egg in a small bowl, and then put it in a 1 cup measuring cup.  Add the vinegar and fill to the top with cold water.    Add this to the dry mixture, a little at a time (you probably won't need all of it), making a smooth dough as you mix in the water.

Step 2:  Cut up the raisins, if you're using them.

Step 3:  Make the filling.

Beat eggs only until the whites and yolks are well blended.  Beat in the sugar, then add the vinegar and the vanilla.   Stir in the melted butter and the fruit.

Step 4:  Line the muffin cups with pastry.

Spray your pan with cooking spray or grease it before using it.

We use a mini muffin pan (or a tart pan), because we like the smaller butter tarts.   You can make this in a regular muffin pan, too.    Since we have a little tart "press" tool (basically a wooden stick with balls on each end), we don't pre-cut the pastry.   Instead, we roll it into small balls and place that into the pan and smoosh (technical term) it down with the press tool.    If you don't have that, it's usually easiest to cut a small circle with a cookie cutter, drinking glass, or an empty, clean aluminum can, and then press that disk of dough into the muffin pan.

Step 5:  Fill the pastry shells.

Fill each pastry shell with the butter mixture, until the shell is 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full.

Step 6:  Bake!

Bake in a hot oven (450º) for the first 10 minutes, and then drop the temperature to moderate (350º) and bake 20-25 minutes, or until the filling is firm.  (This will just depend on how big of a butter tart you're trying to make!).

Then, let it cool and enjoy!