There is no dessert more quintessentially South African than the good old milk tart. It is omnipresent at every church bazaar, school fête, home industry outlet, supermarket and bakery, so it’s no surprise then to know that it has its very own day (Sunday 27 February) on the calendar.
Milk tart was brought to the country by the Dutch settlers in the Cape in the 1600s and is said to have been adapted from a recipe for Mattentaart, which was listed in Thomas van der Noot’s book, Een Notabel Boexcken van Cokeryen (A Notable Book of Cookery), published in 1514.
Given its long history, it’s no surprise that there are countless recipes and variations, and there is even arecipe book dedicated to this delicious dessert, The South African Milk Tart Collection by Callie Maritz and Mari-Louis Guy, published in 2017.
In honour of the dessert, two chefs from Capsicum Culinary Studio shared their favourite milk tart recipes.
Peppermint crisp milk tart by Bradley Wright
- Ingredients for base:
• 150 g plain flour
• 75 g unsalted butter
• 50 g icing sugar
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 50 g Peppermint Crisp, chilled
- Method:
1. Place the flour, unsalted butter, icing sugar and the chocolate in a food processor and blend in short burst until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Tip into a bowl, add the beaten egg yolk and mix to form a dough. If the dough looks too dry, add one tablespoon water.
3. Shape the dough into a ball, flatten it out into a disc, wrap it in cling film and chill for 30 minutes before using.
4. Preheat oven to 200 ºC.
5. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out evenly on a floured surface.
6. Grease a flan pan with butter and dust lightly with flour. Gently place the rolled-out dough into the pan and neatly shape into the corners.
8. Use a fork to poke holes in the base. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. Once rested, remove from the fridge and place greaseproof paper in the tart shell and cover with baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes, remove greaseproof paper and baking beans, and bake for a further five minutes or until golden brown. Turn off oven and leave the base in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, then remove and place on wire rack to cool. Meanwhile make the filling.
- Ingredients for filling:
• 500 ml fresh milk
• 28 g butter
• 20 g flour
• 25 g corn-starch
• 100 g white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
- Method:
1. Place a saucepan over medium heat. Add the milk and butter, and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
2. In another bowl, mix the flour, corn-starch, sugar and vanilla essence, and whisk in eggs until smooth.
3. Gently whisk the mixture into the saucepan. Make sure there are no lumps. 4. Return the saucepan to the stove and keep stirring constantly until in starts to bubble. Cook for about five to six minutes. Pass through a strainer.
- Ingredients for topping:
• 50 g Peppermint Crisp, chilled
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (or more if preferred)
- Assembly:
1. Pour the warm custard into the baked pastry shell. Spread evenly. Allow to set and cool completely.
2. In a bowl finely grate the chocolate, mix with the cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the tart.
Milk tart stuffed choux buns by Imtiyaaz Hart
- Ingredients for the milk tart:
• 400 ml full cream milk
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 50 ml corn flour
• 2 extra-large egg yolks (reserve the whites)
• 80 ml sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
- Method:
1. In a saucepan, place 300 ml milk with the cinnamon stick and butter and heat until bubbles form. Remove from heat and leave for 10 minutes before removing the cinnamon stick. Add the vanilla essence.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and remaining milk. Add the cornflour and beat for no lumps.
3. Add a little of the warm milk to the cornflour mixture, then add to the heated milk in the saucepan. Cook on medium heat until thick, whisking continuously whisk so that no lumps form. Remove from the heat and add the sugar.
4. Place cling-wrap over the surface of the milk tart mixture (making sure it is in contact with the surface so that a skin does not form) and leave to cool.
5. Beat the egg whites with ¼ cup of sugar to soft white peaks and set aside.
- Ingredients for the choux buns:
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup milk
• ½ cup self-raising flour
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 eggs
- Method:
1. Preheat oven to 220 ºC.
2. Heat the water, milk and butter until it boils. Add the flour and mix for four minutes on medium heat.
3. Use an electric hand mixer and mix on medium speed for a minute, adding one egg at a time and continue to mix until fully combined.
4. Place mixture in a piping bag and pipe small circles onto a greased tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 155 ºC and bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove, place on wire rack and allow to cool.
5. Spoon the milk tart mixture into a piping bag and fill the choux buns. Top with the meringue and give it a quick toast with a blowtorch. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon.
