Butter Tarts

Cut the butter into the flour

Whisk the flour and salt, then rub in the cold cubed butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Bring the dough together

Drizzle in the ice water, tossing with a fork, until the dough just holds together.

Chill the dough

Wrap the dough and refrigerate it for at least one hour so it's firm enough to roll.

Line the tart tins

Roll out the dough and cut circles to line a muffin tin, pressing gently into each cup.

Scatter the raisins or pecans

Drop a few raisins or chopped pecans into the bottom of each pastry shell, if using.

Mix the filling

Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, corn syrup, vanilla and salt together until smooth.

Fill the shells

Pour the filling into the pastry shells until about three-quarters full, leaving room for it to bubble up.

Bake the tarts

Bake at 200°C until the pastry is golden and the filling is puffed and bubbling but the centre still jiggles slightly, about fifteen minutes.

Cool before unmoulding

Let the tarts cool in the tin for ten minutes before carefully lifting them out onto a rack.