from Cape Breton’s Christmas
The name “pork pie” for a sweet, date-filled Cape Breton tart likely comes from the pies’ resemblance to a traditional pork pie hat, or possibly from using pork fat in early recipes, although the dessert itself contains no pork. These Acadian tarts became a popular holiday tradition in Cape Breton, with the recipes appearing in local cookbooks as early as the 1930s, suggesting their development during the early 20th century.
Ingredients
Base:
½ lb softened butter
2 ½ cups flour
4 Tbsp icing sugar
Filling:
1 pkg dates
1 ½ cups of water
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Icing:
2 Tbsp butter
½ cup icing sugar
½ tsp maple flavouring
Directions
Base: Mix three ingredients together. Take a marshmallow-sized amount and shape into a small ball. Press the ball into pork pie tin. Bake at 400F for 8 minutes. Use a fork to stab and lift each shell from the tin. Set aside until filling is prepared.
Filling: Mix together ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until thickened. Top shells with a heaping spoonful of date mixture.
Icing: Whip together and top each pork pie with a crown of icing.
Nada’s Tips & Tricks: Muffin tins are today’s version of pork pie tins. You can use store bought tart shells if you don’t want to make the pastry although this recipe is more of a cookie shell than pastry.
Pork Pie Hat:
Contents and images used with permission by Nimbus Publishing. https://nimbus.ca/