A whole melktert dusted with cinnamon beside eggs and eggshells on white wood

Tarts & Pies

Melktert (Milktart)

A slightly non-traditional but very moreish take on a milk tart, with a lovely shortcrust pastry encasing a souffléd spiced custard.

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A whole melktert dusted with cinnamon beside eggshells and a protea, from above A cut melktert on a cake stand with slices on white plates and gold forks

Melktert stems from the Dutch settlers in the Cape in the 1600s. The origin of Mattentaart is credited to a recipe listed in Thomas van der Noot’s book, “Een notabel boexcken van cokeryen” (A Notable Book of Cookery) and it’s possible that melktert developed from the same recipe.

It is a quintessential South African classic which has become a staple at many tables. A cream custard is encased in a sweet shortcrust pastry, and finished off with a dusting of cinnamon. The milk tart has evolved over the years to have crustless versions, versions made with puff or phyllo pastry and many more. Further to this, the custard has sometimes been flavoured with naartjie or infused with Earl Grey or rooibos.

Slices of melktert on white plates with gold forks and proteas

I thought I would share my version of milk tart for Heritage Day, which we celebrate in South Africa on 24 September. The flavours of this tart are similar to other milk tarts, but the method is quite different. I have adapted the traditional shortcrust pastry to have a bit more crunch with the inclusion of Marie biscuits. Further to this, I have incorporated whipped egg whites into the custard, which results in it rising like a soufflé in the oven and producing a lovely bouncy and light texture. Heritage Day is all about celebrating the unity in diversity and so I thought I would share something that is familiar, but at the same time different.

The unbaked pastry case for melktert in a pie dish beside a jar of cake flour and eggs The melktert pastry case being blind baked with baking beans, from above

The recipe

Melktert (Milktart)

adventureswithsugar.com/melktert-milktart/

Method

Method: sweet shortcrust pastry

  1. Combine the dry ingredients: Place the cake flour, Marie biscuits and caster sugar into a food processor and pulse until combined.
  2. Add the butter: Add the butter to the flour mixture and pulse until the mix resembles coarse bread crumbs.
  3. Add the egg, water and vanilla: Then mix the egg, water and vanilla together and pulse a few times more until combined. It is important that you do not pulse until the dough starts to come together, as this will make the pastry tough.
  4. Bring the dough together: Tip the moistened crumb mixture onto a flat surface and use your hands to bring the mixture together until it forms a uniform dough.
  5. Wrap and chill: Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  6. Line the dish: After resting, line a 26cm pie dish with the pastry, such that it nicely comes up the sides. Use a fork to crimp the edges.
  7. Dock the base: Using a fork, dock the base of the pastry so that it does not puff up when baking.
  8. Chill: Place the pastry in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  9. Preheat the oven and prepare to blind bake: Preheat the oven to 180˚ Celsius. Crumple a large piece of baking paper and weigh down with baking beans, to blind bake the pastry.
  10. Blind bake: Blind bake the pastry for 20 minutes. Then remove the baking beans, brush lightly with egg wash and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Method: milktart filling

  1. Start the filling: Once the shell comes out of the oven, you can begin making the custard.
  2. Infuse the milk: Place 425ml of the milk, the cinnamon sticks and the nutmeg in a medium size saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the milk starts to boil.
  3. Mix the flour paste: Whilst the milk is heating, mix the remaining 425ml milk with the flour, corn flour and sugar and set aside.
  4. Thicken the milk: Once the milk in the saucepan comes to a boil, reduce the heat and add in the flour/milk mixture and return to medium heat, stirring continuously.
  5. Add the butter: Then add in the butter and continue to stir until all butter is melted.
  6. Add the egg yolks: Finally, add in the egg yolks and stir until the custard thickens and looks velvety.
  7. Strain: Pass the custard through a sieve to remove the cinnamon and strain out any lumps.
  8. Fold in the egg whites: Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold into the custard mixture.
  9. Bake: Bake for around 20 – 25 minutes, until the edges of the tart are set, with a slight wobble in the middle.
  10. Cool and chill: Let the tart cool to room temperature, before putting it in the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours.
  11. Dust and serve: Dust with cinnamon before serving.
What should I know about making this recipe?

  • It is important to not overwork the pastry in the food processor, and instead, finish it by hand.

  • The resting of the pastry is important in order to relax the gluten.

  • Docking the pastry refers to pricking the base with a fork, so that the steam can escape and it does not rise up.

  • Blind baking refers to packing crumpled baking paper onto the pie crust and then weighing it down with beans/baking beads.

  • For the custard, you can infuse the cinnamon and nutmeg in the milk for a longer time, but I prefer a lighter taste. Bear in mind there is cinnamon on the top as well.

Close-up of a baked melktert before its cinnamon dusting, a blue jug behind Slices of melktert on plates with forks beside the tart, from above

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com

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