“There’s quite a bit individuals right here supporting native Canadian companies and I believe that is superior,” says occasion organizer
Oakville Place Mall was reworked right into a sugary paradise yesterday (Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025) because the annual Oakville Butter Tart Competition took centre stage.
This 12 months’s competition drew in a surprisingly massive crowd compared to final 12 months, based on distributors, with a whole bunch of individuals lining as much as indulge within the Canadian deal with.
“It is nice to see so many individuals come again out once more,” stated Helen Prucha, organizer of the competition and proprietor of Gotta Luv Butter Tarts.
“I believe individuals wanted a pick-me-up,” she stated in relation to the continued information surrounding the potential tariff threats imposed by USA and Canada. “Sure, there’s plenty of uncertainty, however you already know what? There’s quite a bit individuals right here supporting native Canadian companies and I believe that is superior.”
The King’s Daughters was current on the annual butter tart competition in Oakville. Ramona Leitao
Distributors from throughout Ontario arrange store on the mall’s decrease stage, providing their very own takes on the buttery pastry. Some caught to the classics, whereas others experimented with distinctive flavours and textures.
Capital B Cafe has gained three awards for the buttery, gooey and decadent pastry. Ramona Leitao
Capital B Cafe, for example, creates a salted caramel butter tart that’s made with a selfmade caramel. The Oakville-based catering firm, which initially began as a restaurant in Mississauga, has gained three awards for the gooey, flaky pastry.
Behind Capital B Cafe is 24-year-old Nikki Ramkissoon. Being one of many youngest distributors on the occasion, Ramkissoon is appreciative of the opposite distributors. “We’re a bit of neighborhood, which I completely love,” she stated. “It is phenomenal having mentors exhibiting me the steps and the notes.”
Nikki Ramkissoon is the 24-year-old proprietor behind Capital B Cafe, a catering firm that runs in Oakville. Ramona Leitao
Omi’s Candy n Treats is an Etobicoke-based catering firm that additionally excels in providing inventive variations of the favored dessert. Its proprietor, Omila Tickeram, will get inventive with flavour profiles. Tarts made with Turtles chocolate (which she says is the preferred with prospects), maple syrup and bacon, strawberry chocolate truffle, and chocolate peanut butter are simply a number of the many choices that she makes. The flavours got here from her preliminary love for baking muffins for her youngsters, as she by no means appreciated the store-bought variations.
Omila Tickeram of Omi’s Candy n Treats whips up enjoyable approaches to the basic butter tart. . Ramona Leitao
“It is often the identical flavours: plain or raisin,” Tickeram stated of the butter tart. “I’ve by no means been a plain kind of individual, even when it got here to my muffins.”
Having virtually offered out her butter tarts in almost three hours, she believes the excessive turnout at this 12 months’s competition displays a rising appreciation for Canadian, selfmade items.
“Every part I do is [made by] hand. We attempt to do native elements and to assist Canada proper now,” she stated. “I believe that is what we’re seeing proper now.”
