Traditional South African Milk Tart (Melktert)
Traditional South African Milk Tart (melktert) with a homemade crust, and a silky smooth filling, baked to perfection and sprinkled with ground cinnamon. Milk tarts are comforting, delectable, and when you are living across the globe – nostalgic.
Servings 12 slices
Calories 353kcal
Ingredients
Milk Tart Crust
- 125 grams butter (softened)
- 100 grams white granulated sugar (caster or granulated)
- 275 grams plain flour (all-purpose/standard grade)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 egg
Milk Tart Filling
- 850 ml milk (whole/full-fat)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 130 grams white granulated sugar (caster or granulated)
- 3 tablespoon plain flour (all-purpose/standard grade)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (maizena or cornflour in UK, NZ, AUS)
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 60 grams butter
- 4 eggs (large)
- 1-2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Milk Tart Crust
- Cream together the softened butter with sugar until well incorporated. Add in a single beaten egg and whisk together until well combined.125 grams butter, 1 egg, 100 grams white granulated sugar
- Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Knead a few times until you have a softish biscuit (cookie) type of dough.275 grams plain flour, ½ teaspoon table salt, 2 teaspoon baking powder
- Option 1 - Traditionally the biscuit crust is pushed into the bottom and sides of the pie plates using hands and the back of a spoon or measuring cup, and smoothed out using a knife. This results in a quaint rustic looking pie crust.
- Option 2 - roll out the biscuit crust on a sheet of parchment paper until about 5mm thick. Transfer carefully to your pie plate or dish. If the crust breaks during this process, it really doesn't matter, as you can patch up any holes or tears by pressing extra dough into these spots. This is my preferred method, as it allows me to manage the thickness of the crust a little better.
Milk Tart Filling
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/390F/Gas Mark 6.
- Whisk together the sugar, flour, cornflour, and salt together. Set aside.130 grams white granulated sugar, 3 tablespoon plain flour, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon table salt
- Place the cinnamon sticks in the milk and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, add in the sugar-flour mixture and whisk to make sure there aren't any lumps. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes until the milk mixture resembles a bechamel sauce. Add in the butter and whisk through until combined. Remove the milk from the heat and allow it to cool down for 10 minutes whisking occasionally to prevent skin from forming on the milk. Remove the cinnamon sticks from the milk.850 ml milk, 2 cinnamon sticks, 60 grams butter
- While the milk is cooling, beat the eggs and vanilla extract together until well combined, light and fluffy. Then add the eggs to the milk mixture whisking continuously until thoroughly combined. Pour into the milk tart crust.4 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Cover the milk tart with tin foil, making sure to tent the foil over the filling so that the filling does not stick to the foil while cooking. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake for a further 20 minutes until the crust is a deep golden brown. The filling will still be a little bit wobbly.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with cinnamon or cinnamon sugar (your choice). Allow the tart to cool and place in the fridge for at lest 3 hours to overnight. The filling will set completely in the fridge.1-2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
All temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. Decrease the temperature by 20°C/25°F or gas mark 1 for "fan" or air-fryers.
Notes
For fan-forced or fan-assisted ovens decrease the temperature by 20°C/25F.
Milk tart crust - you can use puff or flakey pastry for a milk tart. I have seen this in one or two recipes when researching milk tarts.
Crustless Milk tart is also possible using this recipe. During my testing phases, I had a bit too much filling so I popped it into an oven-safe dish and baked it up for 20-30 mins and was very happy with the results.
Egg whites can be separated from the yolks and whipped to soft peaks before addition to the milk tart. This is a common method among many traditional recipes.
On pie plate size - this recipe has been adapted to fill a 24cm deep-dish pie plate, that takes approximately 1 litre of liquid filling, which is common here in New Zealand, Australia and North America. Traditionally, the South African pie plate used for milk tart is shallower and a touch smaller than what is found here. I used a 9-inch pyrex pie dish.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 353kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 17g | Sodium: 436mg