South African Milktart With An Easy Shortcrust Base Food

SOUTH AFRICAN MILK TART

Steps:

• Cream the butter and add the sugar. Beat in the egg and almond extract. Stir in the flour and salt. Knead until a soft dough has formed. Chill for 10 minutes.
• Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and layer it into a greased pie dish. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and fill the void with pie weights. Bake blind at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove parchment and pie weights. Allow crust to cool completely on a wire rack.
• In a heat proof bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cornstarch, flour and vanilla. Set aside.
• In a medium size saucepan, heat the milk and butter at medium setting. Do not bring to a rolling boil.
• Add about a fourth of the milk to the egg mixture, whisking to incorporate it evenly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan with the remainder of the milk. Return to heat and stir constantly until it thickens. Do not boil!
• Pour the filling into the pie crust and let cool completely. Refrigerate until serving. Sprinkle with cinnamon before serving.

SOUTH AFRICAN MILKTART WITH AN EASY SHORTCRUST BASE

Steps:

• Pre heat oven to 200 degrees celcius.
• Grease 2 pie plates with a volume of 1 litre each.
• TO MAKE THE BASE.
• Cream the butter and sugar.
• Add the egg and mix.
• Sift the flour baking powder and salt together.
• Mix the flour mixture with the egg mixture, using a 'cutting' motion with a firm spatula or spoon.
• If the mixture seems dry, use your hands to press it all together, but do not over handle - do not add any liquid! The mixture will come together!
• Break off pieces and use your fingers to press the dough into the base and sides of the pans to form the crust.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the sides start to brown lightly and remove from oven.
• TO MAKE THE FILLING.
• Heat the 1 litre of milk and butter to boiling point.
• Separate 2 of the eggs keeping the egg whites apart.Whisk the egg whites until sof peaks form.
• Mix the 125ml extra milk, 1 whole egg, 2 egg yolks, sugar, flour,cornflour and salt to a paste.
• Gradually add a little of the boiled milk to this mixture.
• Then add this mixture to the rest of the boiled milk and beat with a whisk to prevent lumps from forming.
• Bring this mixture to the boil stirring all the time until it thickens.
• Add vanilla essence and stir through.
• Fold the whisked egg whites into the hot custard.
• Pour this filling into the baked bases and sprinkle cinnamon over the top.
• Allow milktart to cool down completely until mixture is set.
• Note1: To make the custard in the microwave heat the milk for about 8 minutes (in a 900w oven).
• Once the egg mixture has been added return to the microwave for about 6 minutes, stirring after each minute to prevent lumps forming and continue as per instructions.
• Note2: If you are using extra large eggs increase the amount of cornflour, otherwise the 'custard' will be less firm, but still delicious!

SOUTH AFRICAN MELKTERT (MILKTART)

Steps:

• Heat 3 cups of milk to boiling point.
• Mix remaining milk, flour, sugar, extracts, salt and egg yolks together and add to hot milk.
• Cook until very thick and remove from stove.
• Whisk egg whites to stiff peak stage and add to milk mixture after it has been off the stove for 5 minutes.
• Stir in margarine and pour mixture into ready-made pie shells.
• Sprinkle with cinnamon.
• Refrigerate to cool and set.

SOUTH AFRICAN MELKTERT (MILK TART)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Coat a 9 inch deep dish pie plate with vegetable oil cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg yolks and beat until light and fluffy. Sift in the cake flour, baking powder and salt, and stir until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and milk. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks using an electric mixer. Fold into the batter. Pour into the prepared pie plate, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top.
• Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Continue to bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the center is set when you gently jiggle the pie. Serve hot or cold.

MILK TART WITH A BAKED CRUST

Steps:

• Crust - Step 1 - Measure the flour, baking powder and salt in a jug and whisk until combined. Cream butter and sugar together with a beater attachment until pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the egg and beat until thoroughly incorporated. By hand add in the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
• Crust - Step 2 - Press the dough into a 25cm/10inch tart plate with a removable base. Make sure that it isn't too thick and dock with a fork. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 200C/400F and when ready bake the base for 15 minutes or until golden and cooked through. You don't need to weight this down if you freeze the pastry. The pastry can be baked 1-2 days in advance and covered well and placed in an airtight container or box.
• Heat the milk with the cinnamon stick to just under boiling point.
• Lightly beat the eggs with the sugar, and then add the corn flour and flour.
• Pour the hot milk into this mixture, stirring rapidly.
• Return the mixture to the heat and cook, stirring until the mixture becomes thick.
• Keep stirring while it is cooking to prevent it from catching on the bottom of the pot and getting lumpy.
• Take the mixture off the heat and add the vanilla essence and butter.
• Stir well until the butter is melted.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tart crust.
• Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.