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This week on the Romance Writers Weekly blog hop, we're sharing our favourite holiday recipes. If you joined me from Gemma Brocato, welcome! 


Canadian Thanksgiving happens in October, so the holiday I'm gearing up for is Christmas. Now, I'm not much of a baker. But at Christmas I usually find the time to make traditional family recipes. One of our favourites is butter tarts. These treats are classically Canadian, with a wide variations. My grandmother's recipe is simple and sweet.

You'll need your own pastry recipe for the shells, or you can buy pre-made (guess which one I go for?). Recipe makes 12 to 15 tarts.

1/3 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup raisins (optional – see note below)

Soften butter to room temperature to make it easier to blend. Combine first 5 ingredients using a hand blender. If everyone in your house likes raisins, you can add them to the mixture now. If not, add a few raisins to some of the tart shells and leave others empty, then pour the mixture on top. (For a more adult version, soak the raisins overnight in rum before using.) Fill each tart shell 2/3's full.

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until the edge of the tart shell is golden brown.

I usually triple the batch and freeze half so they don't all disappear in a day or two.

Now on to another Canadian. Let's see what Kim Handysides' favourite holiday recipe is!

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