South African Milk Tart Recipe (2024)

ByAlida Ryder Published

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Milk tart with creamy filling and a homemade crust is a South African classic. Perfect as dessert or served for tea time.

South African Milk Tart Recipe (1)

Table of Contents

  • 1 What is milk tart?
  • 2 Ingredients Needed
  • 3 How to make milk tart
  • 4 Making ahead and freezing
  • 5 South African recipes
  • 6 FAQ
  • 7 Pie recipes
  • 8 South African Milk Tart
    • 8.1 Ingredients
      • 8.1.1 For the crust
      • 8.1.2 For the filling
    • 8.2 Instructions
    • 8.3 Nutrition

What is milk tart?

Milk tart (or Melk Tert) is a South African dessert pie. A sweet pastry crust is filled with a custard filling and topped with a generous dusting of cinnamon. Some milk tart recipes call for the custard to be baked but my favorite version is unbaked custard gently flavored with almond extract, vanilla and nutmeg set in a flaky pie crust. If you love custard-based pies, you will LOVE milk tart.

Ingredients Needed

  • Flour.
  • Icing/Powdered sugar.
  • Cold butter.I used salted butter but unsalted butter can be substituted.
  • Ice water.
  • Milk. It’s important to use whole milk or full fat milk in this recipe.
  • Cream. Heavy/Whipping cream.
  • Egg yolks.
  • Cornstarch.
  • Flour. Cake or all purpose flour.
  • Sugar.
  • Almond extract.
  • Vanilla extract.
  • Nutmeg.
  • Cinnamon.
South African Milk Tart Recipe (2)

How to make milk tart

  1. The crust:The crust recipe I use is one that doesn’t require any rolling out. You simply press the dough into the pie plate before freezing and then blind baking until golden brown and crisp. You can substitute with a cookie crust or use any pie dough recipe you like.
  2. The filling:As with all custards, milk tart filling starts with milk (use whole/full fat milk), cream and flavorings being heated together. To thicken and set the filling, I like using a combination of egg yolks, cornstarch and flour. Whisk the flours and egg yolks with the sugar then ladle in some of the hot milk mixture and whisk to temper the eggs. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook whilst whisking until the custard is thick, smooth and cooked through. I like to pass the custard through a fine mesh sieve to make sure there are no lumps or bits of coagulated egg. Beat room temperature butter into the custard (this adds extra silky richness to the finished tart) and pour the custard into the baked crust.
  3. Setting:Smooth the top of the tart out by spraying a piece of parchment paper with cooking spray and pressing it onto the surface of the custard. This allows you to smooth the top but also prevents a skin from forming. Place the tart in the fridge and allow to set for at least 4 hours but overnight is even better.
  4. Serving:Once you are ready to serve, dust the top of the tart with a generous amount of cinnamon then slice and serve.

Making ahead and freezing

  1. Make ahead:Milk tart can be made up to 2 days in advance and kept covered in the fridge. Leftover will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
  2. Freezing:Freezing is not recommended as the custard might change texture once thawed.
South African Milk Tart Recipe (3)

South African recipes

  1. Malva pudding with frozen custard
  2. Pampoen koekies (pumpkin fritters)
  3. Rooibos tea peach punch
  4. Cheese and corn samoosas

FAQ

Why does my tart have a soggy bottom?

If you don’t blind-bake the crust (which is necessary for this recipe anyway as the filling doesn’t get baked), the filling will prevent it from crisping up.

Pie recipes

  1. Chocolate cream pie
  2. Cinnamon brown sugar pecan pie
  3. Banana cream pie
  4. Lemon Meringue Pie

South African Milk Tart Recipe (5)

South African Milk Tart

Milk tart with creamy filling and a homemade crust is a South African classic. Perfect as dessert or served for tea time.

4.63 from 72 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: South African

Keyword: Milk tart, Milk tart recipe, South African milk tart

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Chilling time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 5 hours hours

Calories: 278kcal

Author: Alida Ryder

Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the crust

  • Follow the directions for my easy no-roll crust

For the filling

  • 2 cups milk
  • ½ cup heavy / whipping cream
  • 5 egg yolks
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • tbsp cornstarch / cornflour
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbsp salted butter (alternatively use unsalted butter and 1/2 tsp salt)
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

  • 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 278kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 151mg | Sodium: 63mg | Potassium: 119mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 593IU | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 1mg

South African Milk Tart Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is South African milk tart made of? ›

What is milk tart? A milk tart is similar to a vanilla custard pudding. It has a baked crust, and a filling that is very much dairy-based. If you're looking to make an easy milk tart recipe, you can use puff pastry to make the crust.

Why does my milk tart crack? ›

Allow the milk tart to cool at room temperature. If you put it in the fridge straight away, you will probably end up with a huge crack down the centre as a result of cooling too quickly. Be sure to use the best quality ingredients.

What is milk tart South Africa Wikipedia? ›

Melktert (/ˈmɛlktɛrt/, Afrikaans for milk tart) is a South African dessert originally created by the Dutch settlers in the "Cape" (South Africa) consisting of a sweet pastry crust containing a custard filling made from milk, flour, sugar and eggs.

What is the origin of melktert? ›

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 co*keryen” (A Notable Book of Cookery) and it's possible that melktert developed from the same recipe.

What is coffee with condensed milk called in South Africa? ›

Also known as “Railway Coffee” – Condensed Milk is a classic South Africa favourite that is often added as a sweetener and creamer to coffee.

What is shooter co*cktails? ›

A shooter, or shot, is a small serving of spirits or a mixed drink (usually about one US fluid ounce or 30 millilitres), typically consumed quickly, often in a single gulp. It is common to serve a shooter as a side to a larger drink.

Why does my tart have a soggy bottom? ›

Wet pie fillings + raw dough are a tricky combination. If the bottom crust doesn't set before the filling soaks in, it's going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won't soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom.

Why is my milk tart not thickening? ›

This tart filling is a custard as the thickening agent is egg yolks. If it isn't thickening up enough then one of two things is happening: The mix isn't being brought up to temperature. The recipe's instructions aren't very good because it talks about a time rather than a target temperature.

What happens if you overmix tart dough? ›

Overmixing is exactly what it sounds like: the process by which a dough or batter gets mixed too much, typically yielding dense, tough, or deflated baked goods. Overmixed doughs and batters may have an unappealing look or feel, which remain just as unappealing when they're baked.

What is Amasi in South Africa? ›

Amasi (in Ndebele, Zulu and Xhosa), emasi (in Swazi), maas (in Afrikaans), or mafi (in Sesotho), is a thick curdled sour fermented milk product that is sometimes compared to cottage cheese or plain yogurt but has a much stronger flavor.

What is sour milk called in South Africa? ›

Amasi (Cultured milk)

It has a pleasant sour taste with a slight bite/prickliness on the tongue.

What is Amasi milk made of? ›

Amasi, a cultured dairy product, is cultured (sour) milk that is manufactured by inoculating pasteurised milk with a specific bacterial culture. The end product has a firm texture, no gas bubbles and no separation of whey from the coagulum. It has a pleasant sour taste with a slight bite/prickliness on the tongue.

Is Inkomazi sour milk? ›

Sour milk is a drink that is popular in Southern Africa and is fermented milk that tastes like a mix between cottage cheese and plain yogurt. Common names for this drink are Inkomazi,Maas,Amasi,Madila.

What is fermented milk in South Africa? ›

Amasi is a traditional Southern African fermented dairy product usually made at a household level from unpasteurised milk. It is widely consumed throughout the Southern Africa region and it relies on specific microorganisms for its taste, aroma, consistency and texture.

What is milk candy made of? ›

Traditionally made from carabao, or water buffalo, milk and white sugar, pastillas de leche are now more commonly made from a combination of cow milk, condensed milk, sugar, and/or powdered milk.

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