Caramelized Butter and Sugar Tarts

Thanksgiving has come and gone, leaving me full of stuffing (bacon/biscuit/mushroom, omg, nom nom nom) and turkey and other deliciousness. I didn't have to cook much (indeed, at all) but I contributed these caramelized sugar/butter tarts to the feast because if there is one thing I have to do for any event, it is make dessert. Typically, my offering is some sort of makes-you-be-my-slave-for-life cupcake, but this year I went a totally different route.

Maybe because I had these adorable little mini tart pans and had never used them. Maybe because the night before, my roommate and I had made pumpkin chocolate muffins. Or, far more likely, maybe because I am broke right now and had these ingredients in my apartment.

The crust was my own shortbread-styled crust.

Sugar, flour, salt, and butter mixed until crumble-y and tasty and then pressed into the pans and cooked briefly in the oven. I am not sure if I would do this next time or if I would do it longer, but either way - this is what I did. I also had to smack my friend and his grabby hands away from the crust as he wouldn't stop eating it. To be fair, he rarely comes over when I am cooking and so is often re-surprised by how tasty everything is. Also, he said it was the best crust he'd ever had.

I let him eat the remainder. I like to fatten up all my friends.

Further proof of this is the rest of the tart, which I from this recipe. The original is behind the link, but my version is as follows....

- 1/3 cup butter

- 1/4 cup sugar (approx)

- 1/4 cup brown sugar (approx)

- 1/2 cup sugar-syrup (cooked sugar and water down to a syrup over the stove)

- one lightly beaten egg

- a little salt

- about a teaspoon of vanilla

I mixed all these together, tasted to make sure it was indeed pure sugar, and then poured this into the tart tins and baked at 350 for about twenty minutes. I then carefully removed and placed on a dishcloth in my fridge to chill them. I also scraped a lot of molten sugar off of the cookie sheet I had placed the tins on because I had filled the tins too high and attempted to destroy the kitchen.

I also whisked some heavy whipping cream into whipped cream. It wasn't sweetened, so it provided a nice change from the sugar I was serving for dessert.

And, really, I am pretty happy with what I got. A very sweet, very gooey, very absurdly delicious tart that has received excellent reviews from all who got to eat any of them.