Best 4 Traditional Melktert Recipes

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.

TRADITIONAL SOUTH AFRICAN MILK TART (MELKTERT)

Steps:

• For the pastry, pulse the butter, flour and sugar in a food processor until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Alternately, rub in the cold butter with two knives or a pastry cutter. Try not to use your hands as it will warm up the butter.
• Add the egg and water and mix until just combined.
• Bring the pastry into a ball and flatten into a disk on a piece of cling wrap. This makes it easier to roll into a round shape later.
• Chill and rest the pastry for about 30 minutes before use.
• Roll out the pastry and line a 25 cm tart pan ensuring that the pastry overlaps the sides a bit as it may shrink during baking if not rested enough. I chilled it again for another 10 minutes before baking.
• Switch on the oven and heat to 200 degrees celcius / 400 F / Gas mark 6.
• Prick the base and line with parchment paper and baking beans or beans, and bake blind for about 10 minutes.
• Remove the baking beans and bake for another five minutes. Be careful not to get a burn as you may drop the beans and damage the tart case.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 170 degrees celcius / 350 F / Gas mark 4.
• Cook the filling while the pastry base is baking in the oven.
• In a medium size bowl mix the butter and flour ensuring there are no lumps. Add in the condensed milk, vanilla and the egg yolks and mix until smooth.
• Heat the milk until it reaches boiling point stirring occasionally with a flat edged wooden spoon to prevent it catching and burning on the bottom of the pot.
• Add a little of the boiled milk to the egg mixture ensuring that you whisk out all the lumps. Slowly add the rest of the milk while whisking or stirring and then return to the pot and place back on the heat.
• Stir the milk mixture on the heat until it thickens and it starts to bubble.
• Remove the pot from the stove and let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes.
• Whisk the egg whites and salt until they are glossy but not too stiff. It should be soft peaks at this stage, not the 'tip it over your head and it doesn't drop' stiffness.
• Fold the egg whites into the cooled custard mixture.
• Pour into the pastry case and bake for 15-20 minutes until it is set. Do not over bake as it will rise and sink like an overdone souffle.
• Sprinkle with cinnamon powder and serve.

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.

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.