The age old question as to who makes the best butter tarts might soon be answered at the For the Love of Buttertarts Festival.
If you want to fill up on butter tarts the festival is happening on July 29 at Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission is $6 and tickets can be purchased online. A portion of the money will go to support Woolwich Community Services. Children under the age of 10 can attend for free.
This is the third time the festival has been put on, but the first time it has been hosted in Elmira. There was a For the Love of Buttertarts and Chocolate Festival in Fergus in 2018 put on by All Canadian Events.
The annual event going forward is likely going to remain in Elmira, said Jackie Psutka, organizer and founder of the festival.
“A lot of butter tarts are made with maple syrup,” said Psutka. Elmira is known for maple syrup and a large Mennonite community, including Mennonite bakers, she said. So she thought Elmira is the perfect spot to host an event like this one.
There will be music, a vendor market, food trucks and a beer garden.
Thirty bakers will compete at the festival to see who makes the best butter tart. A panel of judges will judge the butter tarts based on presentation, taste, aroma, and texture. The winner gets a trophy and bragging rights.
“I think that people take their butter tarts very seriously,” Psutka said. You either love them, or you hate them, she said.
Some people say butter tarts are all about the crust, and others say it is all about the filling that drips down your arm when you bite into it, she said.
“I love regular old butter tarts,” said Pstuka. But she isn’t a butter tart purist, she likes butter tarts with raisins too. She loves a butter tart with a flaky crust and an ooey gooey filling.
At the beer garden Rural Roots from Elmira will be selling beer and Murphy’s Law will have a butter tart flavoured liqueur.
Lady Glaze Doughnuts will feature a butter tart doughnut from its food truck. Frannie’s Restaurant and Bakery will have a butter tart sundae.
Pstuka said there is a lot of innovation when it comes to butter tarts. There are no longer just plain, raisin, pecan, or walnut butter tarts. She has seen butter tarts with maple bacon and s'mores toppings.
“I think it just brings back memories of childhood for some people, because they go over to grandma's house, and they just make fresh butter tarts and the house probably smells delicious. And then they take their bite into that butter tart, and they just go to a different world,” said Pstuka.
