My favourite South African dessert? While the many options make this a difficult decision, I have to say that milktart is my number one. I cannot walk past a pastry counter, see a milktart, and not try it out! And when I'm feeling inspired to bake something special this classic milktart recipe is my go-to for all the South African feels.
Traditional South African Melktert Recipe
I've seen many variations of this sweet pie, but the commonality between all these bakes is the creamy custard and the cinnamon flavour. The traditional milktart, or melktert in Afrikaans, dates back to the 1600s apparently. These days, it's found almost everywhere from fine dining restaurants to tiny bakeries in towns I can hardly pronounce.
There are many options when it comes to deciding how to make this tart. You can choose not to use your oven at all, and to make use of a tennis biscuit crust and fill the shell with an eggless custard. You can buy puff pastry and use this to line your pie dish or you can even choose to bake a crustless milktart!
With regards to the custard, I've seen recipes add almond extract, nutmeg, or cinnamon sticks to infuse the custard. I've seen recipes that call for the custard to be cooked and others that just require some fridge time. There are options of eggless custards, custard using only yolks, and custards that require the separation of the eggs and the whipping of the whites! So, as you can see the options are endless when it comes to deciding how exactly to make this a milktart!
With all these options, I've come up with a variation of this dessert that I enjoy best. I make a traditional sweet short-crust pastry and fill it with a custard using condensed milk and egg yolks. I bake the custard and then allow it to set in the fridge for about 4 hours but ideally overnight. This isn't a quick recipe, but trust me it is so worth it.
Milktart Recipe Made with Condensed Milk
I remember sitting in the office one day and asking my Afrikaans colleagues, how does your mom or ouma make milktart? Every single one of them said, with condensed milk. So that was it, I built this recipe around condensed milk.
I love the taste of condensed milk and when added to the right amount of milk the sweetness is just perfect.
Milktart Crust - To Bake or Not to Bake?
If you are pressed for time or just don't like making pastry, making the crust of this milktart recipe with Tennis biscuits and melted butter is a real-time saver. Also, it is super delicious! So, if you're looking for a quick milktart recipe, make the crust this way and then follow the recipe for the custard filling.
I hope you enjoy making this classic milktart recipe and I would love to know how your tars come out! Tag me on Instagram or leave a comment below.
Happy Baking
With Love,
Kitty
📖 Recipe
Classic Milktart Recipe
Ingredients
Pastry
- 120 grams unsalted butter
- 100 grams castor sugar
- 1 egg
- 250 grams flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon melted butter for the tart tin
Milktart Custard
- 900 ml full cream milk
- 1 tin condensed milk
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 3 egg yolks
- 4 tbsp cornflour
- 2 tbsp butter
- cinnamon for dusting
Instructions
Pastry
- Place the sugar and the butter in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high until combined but not creamed.
- Add the egg and the vanilla extract, and mix again until combined.
- Add the flour at once and mix until combined, do not over-mix. Cover the dough in clingfilm and allow to rest in the fridge for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Once chilled, roll out the pastry on a floured surface to the thickness of about 5mm. Brush a 22cm pastry tin with melted butter and line the tin with the pastry dough.
- Line the douth with baking paper and fill the paper with baking beans or rice, bake the tart shell in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Remove from the oven, and remove the paper and the baking beans and set it aside to cool.
Milktart Custard
- Add the condensed milk, milk and cinnaon stick to a medium pan set over medium heat. Heat until almost boiling.
- Meanwhile, add the egg yolks and the cornflour to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat until combined.
- In a steady stream add the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture while whisking, do this slowly to temper the eggs. Continue until all of the milk has been added. Transfer the mixture to a clean pot over medium heat.
- Whisk continuously until the custard thickens, once thick remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.
- Pour the custard into the baked tart shell and place the tart into a preheated oven set at 150°C bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and dust with cinnamon.
- Allow the milktart to cool to room temperature and then place it in the fridge for 4 hours or ideally overnight. Enjoy!
Irena says
This pastry was incredible! Thanks for sharing Kitty
Rachel Woodall says
How many ml are in a tin of condensed milk? I’m in the United States and want to make sure I use the correct amount.
withlovekitty2020 says
Hi Rachel! Thank you for your comment, each tin is 385g, I hope you love this recipe!