The first day of June marks National Butter Tart Day, a chance to celebrate a classic Canadian treat.
It’s also a chance for those in the Peterborough, Ont., area to stop by one of the city’s newest bakeries, The Kawartha Buttertart Factory & Bakery, which specializes in the cultural creation.
“We expanded during COVID; I think it was a feel-good, these were some of the places you could go,” said owner, Cathy Smith.
“Unfortunately, some of my counterparts in the food business didn’t benefit like that, but we were lucky, and we have a good story coming out of COVID.”
It’s certainly good news for tart lovers and there seems to be a lot of them in the area. Smith said this is their second location, which opened in early 2022 to ease lineups at their popular shop in Douro, Ont.
“We know a lot of people would drive out to Douro, see a line around the building and think, ‘I am not standing in that,’ so that is what this store was all about.”
That store, Smith said, sometimes sells 200 dozen tarts a day, especially in the summer, which is prime tart time due to cottage traffic.
President and CEO of Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, Stuart Harrison, said has noticed businesses starting to rebound in the wake of pandemic impacts.
- Canadian man dies during Texas Ironman event. His widow wants answers as to why
- Canadians more likely to eat food past best-before date. What are the risks?
- ‘Sciatica was gone’: hospital performs robot-assisted spinal surgery in Canadian first
- Several baby products have been recalled by Health Canada. Here’s the list
“Just today I attended two ribbon cuttings for expansions and renovations,” said Harrison.
“There seems to be an awful lot going on and to me it seems to be a real indication of people coming out of the pandemic and doing business.”
A self-proclaimed butter tart connoisseur himself, Harrison added he is always happy to see a bakery come to town.
Meanwhile, for those wondering what makes the best butter tart, Smith said for her it comes down to the ingredients.
“We use everything that you would have found in grandma’s cupboard,” she said.
“(Our tarts) are different from a lot of the rest because we do not use corn syrup — so they aren’t as sweet, and they aren’t runny, they are actually thick.”
Find out more on the Kawartha Buttertart Factory, visit their website.
Comments