Butter Tart Tour

” The Butter Tart Tour? Is this for real? You mean to tell me I can tour around and eat butter tarts, sign me up!” Was the common reaction I got when I told people I was taking this tour. The Butter Tart Tour is a self guided adventure through Kawarthas and Northumberland with four distinct routes to choose from. Visit the Butter Tart Tour Website to get more info on the tour routes and suggestions of how to make the most of your day.

3 pecan and 3 plain Buns and Sweets butter tarts made it into my bag.

Tart Me Up

All you need to do is pick your route, invite some friends and pack a picnic for a day of sweet discovery. The route I planned is below, the stops were taken from the “Tart Me Up” tour. I was probably being a tad too optimistic when I originally planned 8 stops in one day. We set out at 9:30 am and didn’t make it home till 5:30pm, so plan to spend the whole day touring. If you click on the map you can get the link to my original route. The three we didn’t make it to were in Lakefield and Peterborough and I plan to be back there really soon.

Delight and Discovery

Be open to adventure and detours along the way, you just never know what you will discover while winding your way along back roads. I was utterly delighted to discover the charming small towns and villages that I had heard of many times but never actually had the opportunity to visit. These places are yearning to show you what makes them special if you stop in and sit for a moment, instead of just passing through on your way to somewhere else.

There were so many great moments on this tour and I couldn’t limit myself to pick a few great shots so I have created this slideshow to give you the full experience. Have a look through the slideshow below, if you want to pause a picture just hover the cursor over it and it will pause or use the arrows in the text bar to move back and forth. Enjoy, I know we did!

Kawarthas Northumberland does a fantastic job of setting you up for a self guided Butter Tart Tour
Let's get the tour started bright and early, putting addresses into the gps
The open country roads are calling!I can see why people like to go for country drives, this is along regional road 9
First stop on our tour was Doo Doo's in Bailieboro
They happen to have won some awards!
How could I decide on just one flavour? Got six so we could try them all.
The Pastry Peddler in Millbrook was the next stop on the route.
Not only did they have butter tarts, the showcase was filled with delicious bars, scones and cookies topped off with cakes and pies!YUM
AND an enticing lunch menu as well, putting The Pastry Peddler on my MUST VISIT list.
Millbrook is the cutest little town with quaint shops and perfect picnic areas.
Buns and Sweets in Bridgenorth , tour stop 36 was actually the 3rd stop on our tour
Fresh made tarts were cooling on the racks behind the counter, they smelled heavenly!
Eric the baker was hand folding the shells for the next batch of tarts. He told us that last year between April and December , he personally folded 45,000 tart shells!!!!Impressive!
3 pecan and 3 plain Buns and Sweets butter tarts made it into my bag.
We made our way up to Buckhorn and Stop 35, Country Mart Bakery. A bakery and convenience store, they do all the baking on premises.
Left or Right? We made a last minute decision to head left and veer off the route briefly for a quick run up to the Swiss Bear in Apsley.
The Swiss Bear is one of my absolute favourite restaurants on the way to Bancroft. I get cravings for the schnitzel and rosti.Look for the large wooden bear carving out front.
You can dine in or get schnitzel on a bun from the take away truck right beside the restaurant. We got ours to go and a butter tart because The Swiss Bear is Stop 42 on the tour.
A quick 20 minute drive back down Hwy 28 to Burleigh Falls and break for a picnic lunch.We grabbed a picnic table in the shade by the lock on the Trent Waterway and watched the boats come through the lock as we enjoyed our schnitzel and goodies.
After lunch we crossed the highway over to the "falls" side and walked along the shore to watch people as they rode the rapids on inflatables.
The wild beauty of the near north beckons people from the cities every weekend, all summer long.
Cottage Country is truly gorgeous with amazing vistas around every bend of the road.
Last stop of the day was Kawartha Bakery, Stop 40 on the tour. At the corner of Peterborough County Rd 23 and County Rd 18, which was a bit of challenge for my gps, not having an actual address . Also a gluten free bakery, we made it there just as they were closing up but they let us in!
THE HAUL! This is what I came home with from 5 stops along the Tart Me Up in the Kawarthas Route.I had a crew of hungry "judges "wanting to sample everything.
I sampled all the tarts "scientifically" with my "judges".We took one butter tart from each stop and sliced it up to sample and give it a rating.Our process of sampling the tarts was to cut them in half to "observe" the runny-ness of the filling and the filling to crust ratio.
Country Mart Bakery, overall score was 6.5/10, the filling ratio was good but the flavour was a bit sweet and not quite right for a traditional butter tart.
Doo Doo's. overall score 8.5/10. Thicker pastry, firm filling, great flavour. They have won many competitions with their tarts and I can see why.
Pastry Peddler overall score 7.9/10. Sweet firm filling, good flavour, tasty crust.Disclaimer- I don't know why I got the butter tart square instead of the tart. I was overcome by all the sweet goodness in the showcase and lost my way momentarily.
Kawartha Bakery overall score 3.8/10. We really did not enjoy this one, the filling was very runny and did not taste like a butter tart at all. That being said they do specialize in gluten free items so still worth a visit if you are looking for special treats.
I also have to give a shout out to The Dutch Oven in Cobourg, I visited them on National Butter Tart day, June 1st.They made a variety special tarts to celebrate the day.
I am holding the Ganache topped butter tart. Yes it was THAT good! I would give it an 8/10 loved the pastry and the filling was oozy which I appreciate. It was just a little too sweet to eat all in one go so I saved the other half.