Traditional South African Milk Tart Melktert 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 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 MILK TART (MELKTERT)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• For the crust, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
• Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or knife until the flour resembles a coarse cornmeal.
• Stir in the sour cream to form a soft dough.
• Dust the dough with flour and form it into a ball.
• On a generously floured surface, roll out the dough to fix at 11x13-inch baking sheet or a 14-inch pizza pan. It will be thicker than a usual pie crust.
• Carefully lift the dough and lay it out flat on the unoiled pan. Crimp the edges by pinching them to form a rim. Pierce the dough with a fork in several places.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until crisp and golden.
• Meanwhile, make the custard by heating the milk to boiling.
• Combine the sugar, flour, eggs, and salt in a blender.
• When the milk begins o foam, pur it slowly into the whirling blender.
• Pour the custard back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes, until thickened.
• Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside.
• When the crust has baked, spread the custard filling evenly over it.
• Generously sprinkle the top with cinnamon and brown sugar. Return the tart to the oven for about 15 minutes, until the brown sugar melts and the top of the custard is firm.
• Serve the milk tart warm or cold.

MELKTERT

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!

SOUTH AFRICAN MILK TART

Steps:

• Make the pastry according to recipe instructions then blind bake until golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
• To make the filling, heat the milk, cream, vanilla, almond extract and nutmeg in a saucepan over medium heat.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, sugar, flours and salt.
• 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.
• Pass the custard through a fine-mesh sieve. Beat in the butter.
• Pour the custard into the prepared crust. Spray a piece of parchment paper with cooking spray then press onto the surface of the custard to avoid a skin from forming.
• Place the milk tart in the fridge and allow to set for at least 4 hours but ideally overnight.
• Before serving, dust the cinnamon over the milk tart. Slice and serve.

SOUTH AFRICAN MELKTERT OR MILK TART (CUSTARD PIE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400o F.
• Line bottom and sides of two pie plates (not deep dish) with puff pastry making raised edges.
• In a pot, bring milk to a slow boil and add butter, salt and cinnamon. Reduce to simmer.
• In a mixing bowl, combine custard powder, corn flour and cake flour. Stir in cold milk and mix to form a paste. Stir in a little of the hot milk mixture.
• Stir custard mixture into the pot of hot milk. Add 4 tbsp of the sugar and bring to a boil, stirring continuously.
• Remove from heat once the mixture has thickened. Discard cinnamon.
• Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually beat in the remaining sugar. Set Aside.
• Beat egg yolks lightly and add a little of the custard mixture to the egg yolks.
• Then stir the yolk/custard mixture into the main custard mixture and add almond extract.
• Gently FOLD in the egg whites.
• Pour the mixture into the awaiting pie pans and bake for approximately 10 minutes.
• Lower the temperature to 350 F and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the filling has set.
• Cool slightly and sprinkle the top of the custard pie with cinnamon and sugar.
• Serve cold.

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.

TRADITIONAL MELKTERT

Steps:

• METHOD.
• First bake the pastry base, and allow it to cool. If the base is filled before it is cool, it will go soggy.
• PASTRY BASE.
• Mix the butter and sugar vigorously until it is light in colour. It does not have to be smooth, the grainy texture of the sugar helps the crust to be more like biscuit than cake.
• Add the egg and beat well.
• Add the flour and beat until well blended and smooth.
• Press into a spring-form cake tin or loose-bottom tin, making sure that the pastry comes at least 4cms (1 1/2 inches) up the side of the tin.
• Bake at 180degC for 25mins. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
• FILLING.
• Put the milk, cinnamon stick, vanilla pod and butter into a saucepan and scald. (bring almost to the boil before removing from the heat.) Turn off the heat and allow the saucepan to remain on the hot stove plate for the cinnamon and vanilla flavours to steep.
• Meanwhile, put the honey (or sugar) and eggs into a bowl and whisk vigorously, adding small amounts of the flours until you have a smooth and well-blended consistency.
• Strain the hot milk, and pour onto the sugar and egg mixture while beating until all the ingredients are well blended.
• Return to the saucepan, and simmer over a low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or wire whisk until the mixture is thick and creamy, taking care that it does not stick to the bottom of the saucepan.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared and cooled pastry case, (which should still be in the tin), sprinkle lightly with ground cinnamon, and refrigerate until cold and set.