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–+ servings

South African Milk Tart

Fazila Olla-Logday
There is nothing like a proper homemade South African milktart (or melktert in Afrikaans, and sometimes spelt as two words - milk tart or melk tert).  It is arguably the most traditional and most loved South African dessert. Either way, it's so quick and easy to prepare for tea or dessert!
And it’s so South African it has its own National Day – 27th February!
This classic South African dessert consisting of a buttery sweet pastry crust, filled with a creamy custard made with milk, cinnamon sticks, flour, sugar and eggs, baked in a round pie tin and dusted with lots of cinnamon. So yum!
Ingredients Needed to Make Milk Tart Crust
Butter -  To give the crust a rich flavour.
Flour –Plain flour (known as cake flour in South Africa)
Sugar - Granulated white sugar or castor sugar is fine.
Baking Powder - To give a bit of lift to the crust.
Salt - Brings out the flavour.
Ingredients Needed to Make Milk Tart Filling
Milk – Try to only use whole or full cream milk.
Eggs – Adds colour and flavour and helps to set the tart once cooked.
Flour and Cornflour - (Known as maizena in South Africa, or corn starch in North America) This will help thicken the milk.
Sugar –Just plain granulated sugar.
Flavourings - Vanilla extract and cinnamon sticks add a depth of flavour to the filling.
Butter - Adds a silkiness and flavour to the filling.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Baking, Dessert, Tea Time Treats
Cuisine South African
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

Pastry

  • 100 Gr Butter Not Margarine Please!
  • 1/4 Cup Sugar
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 11/4 Cups Plain Flour Sifted
  • 1 Tsp Baking Powder
  • Pinch of Salt

Filling

  • 1 Litre Full Cream Milk
  • 2 Whole Cinnamon Sticks
  • 3/4 Cup Sugar
  • 4 Large Eggs Separated
  • 1/3 Cup Plain Flour
  • 1/3 Cup Corn Flour
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 60 Gr Butter

Topping

  • Ground Cinnamon

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  • Blitz the butter, flour and sugar ingredients together in a food processor until it until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the egg and blitz until it all clumps together to form a dough.
  • Press into a lightly greased 26 cm tart dish. (This dough does not need to be rolled out). Chill in the fridge while preparing the filling.
  • Heat the milk together with the cinnamon sticks in a medium sized pot (do not boil). 
  • In a mixing bowl whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, flours and salt until creamy and light. The mixture will be quite thick. Once the milk is hot, whisk two ladles full of the milk into the egg mixture to temper the eggs.
  • Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook until thickened, whisking continuously. Cook the custard for 2-3 minutes until thick and smooth.
  • Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla.
  • Whisk the egg whites in a clean glass bowl until soft peaks form and fold into the custard.
  • Pour into the chilled pastry case and sprinkle with ground cinnamon.
  • Bake for +- 30-35 minutes.
Keyword Milk Tart, Milk Tart Recipe, South African Milk Tart
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