Beavertails & Butter Tarts: an American up north

TIM HORTONS "Sufficient but not memorable" Tim Hortons Baking 4.29  / 10  Maple Leaves Hamilton, ON - Canada www.timhortons.com Presentation: 5 Flavor: 5.5 Texture: 4 Center: 5 Crust: 3 Bite: 3 Happiness "yum" Factor: 4.5 When I saw the Hamilton Tim Hortons was offering butter tarts I had to jump on the opportunity. Perhaps a test market item? I had never seen a Tim Hortons which offered them and they in fact were offering a salted caramel version so I decided to buy. Overall, the experience could be best described as sufficient, but not memorable.  The crust was not exactly flaky and a little bland. The center was gooey, but not running it definitely had the salted caramel taste to it and it was alright flavor wise. Visibly on top there seemed to be goo in the center but I have a feeling it was added later for effect post baking. Upon cutting in it was less runny and more gooey and stayed its form … it was a little less than the custody version and more on the swee...

BITTEN "easily one of my favorites and in the top 5" BITTEN Baking Co. 8.82 / 10  Maple Leaves Hamilton, ON - Canada https://orders.bittenonlocke.com/ Presentation: 9.5 Flavor: 9.5 Texture: 8 Center: 8.25 Crust: 8.25 Bite: 8.75 Happiness "yum" Factor: 9.5 Bitten was really a lovely surprise in downtown Hamilton. Lovely flaky crust that even though on appearance seemed a bit big for the tart, really fit well in taste and texture. Buttery and flavorful and lovely. The center was another lovely surprise. The center was rich and butty and a bot gooey, not as runny as the Barrie tarts but rich and tasty and with a noticeable top and bottom differing in texture and taste. Overall this was just a very well made and tasty tart, full of flavor and taste. This is based on the regular tart only please note. We did try some of the variations and were a little less enthused about the additions which seemed to just remove filling and add the toppings almost as fillings. But, base...

  ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHOCOLATE FACTORY Rocky Mountain Baking Company 5.21 / 10  Maple Leaves Ottawa, ON - Canada https://rockychoc.com/ Presentation: 5.75 Flavor: 5 Texture: 3 Center: 4.75 Crust: 8 Bite: 4 Happiness "yum" Factor: 6 This butter tart is for all intents and purposes a tourist trap. It’s not a terrible butter tart, but the sugar content alone could kill a diabetic. Essentially its a butter tart with a caramel turtle on top. Overwhelmingly through this bite and through this experience, it’s just sweet, the overwhelming taste of the caramel and the chocolate on top really pervades the entire thing . The target itself seems to be a little lacking in filling and over compensating with piling nuts on top they’re giving it a little bit of a crunch. It’s hard to really tell if the butter tart itself is half decent. The crust seems doable which you can taste seems buttery pliable a little flaky, and actually not too bad but as mentioned before the center is really kind of ha...

UPPER CANADA VILLAGE Baking Co. - ? 4.89 / 10  Maple Leaves 13740 County Rd 2, Morrisburg, ON K0C 1X0, Canada https://www.uppercanadavillage.com/ Presentation: 6.5 Flavor: 5.75 Texture: 4 Center: 6 Crust: 3 Bite: 5 Happiness "yum" Factor: 4 I had high hopes for this one thinking that the village drive for authenticity would be half decent. Your first bite, the first thing you notice is this is a lot of crust. It pretty much overwhelms the bite and taste. The experience was a bit dry not very flavorful. The center had the consistency and taste of pecan pie without the pecans. Not much to say here other than that, it looked fine, but tasted and felt pretty much like something for tourists. The filling  seemed too condensed maybe even a bit overpowering. No custardy or gooey goodness... also prepackaged in cellophane which I’m sure it didn’t help.  Overall you could probably skip this one.

Franks Catering & Baked Goods 6.64 / 10  Maple Leaves   283 Greenbank Rd, Nepean, ON K2G 5K4, Canada https://www.franksfoods.ca/ Presentation: 8 Flavor: 7 Texture: 6 Center: 7.5 Crust: 6 Bite: 6 Happiness "yum" Factor: 6 Frank’s bills itself as the best butter tarts in Ottawa. From the onset upon entering it fits the bill, there is a full section and very wide variety of butter tarts for those who like an assortment of flavors and textures. This place for certain goes through a decent amount of tarts daily. Are they the best in Ottawa ... they ate not, sorry. The first thing you noticed with Frank’s is the unique crust. More of a folded pastry molded into a cup than your traditional thumbprint style tart. It does add points the crust that is complimented by the good bite and the taste. It’s not bad. It’s just a bit different and more of a crust Than pastry. The center is kind of average in terms of consistency in flavor. It was OK ... consistency is a little more gooey t...

Brown Loaf Bakery 7.18 / 10  Maple Leaves 268 Elgin St, Ottawa, ON K2P 0J4, Canada https://www.facebook.com/brownloafelgin/ Presentation: 7 Flavor: 8 Texture: 6.25 Center: 8.25 Crust: 4.5, bland Bite: 9.25 Happiness "yum" Factor: 7 Right off the bat these tarts have the look and feel of home made, wrapped individually they have the look, crust wise, of being hand formed which is nice to see. The specialty tarts were much bigger in size and priced accordingly. They specialty tarts could easily be considered "sharing size." The very first thing you get with this butter tart is the bite of the pastry, though the crust is a little plain, overall it’s a very firm bite. The filling itself in the center is a little sparse to be honest and tends to settle down in form the dense gel kind of like a crater center. It holds together well though. The center is more sticky and gooey; much less custody or dripping. The star of this tart though is said filling. It does lack the c...