South African Melktert or Milk Tart (Custard Pie)

NcMysteryShopper's Note:

This traditional South African Melktert or Milk Tart is a variation of an egg custard pie which originated with the Dutch settlers who came South Africa in the 17th Century. Melktert was then adapted and made a purely South African creation by the Cape Malays. Apparently wives reputations hang on their Melkterts and recipes are family heirlooms. So, for something exotic and a bit different, give this a try.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 2 Pies

• 1/2 lb puff pastry
• 1 1/2 teaspoons butter
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cups milk, for boiling
• 2 teaspoons custard powder
• 3 teaspoons cornflour
• 3 teaspoons cake flour
• 2 tablespoons cold milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon almond essence
• cinnamon-sugar mixture

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400o F.
2. Line bottom and sides of two pie plates (not deep dish) with puff pastry making raised edges.
3. In a pot, bring milk to a slow boil and add butter, salt and cinnamon. Reduce to simmer.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine custard powder, corn flour and cake flour. Stir in cold milk and mix to form a paste. Stir in a little of the hot milk mixture.
5. Stir custard mixture into the pot of hot milk. Add 4 tbsp of the sugar and bring to a boil, stirring continuously.
6. Remove from heat once the mixture has thickened. Discard cinnamon.
7. Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually beat in the remaining sugar. Set Aside.
8. Beat egg yolks lightly and add a little of the custard mixture to the egg yolks.
9. Then stir the yolk/custard mixture into the main custard mixture and add almond extract.
10. Gently FOLD in the egg whites.
11. Pour the mixture into the awaiting pie pans and bake for approximately 10 minutes.
12. Lower the temperature to 350 F and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the filling has set.
13. Cool slightly and sprinkle the top of the custard pie with cinnamon and sugar.
14. Serve cold.

Reviews

[Judi90]

This was great. I made only 1 pie because I only had enough milk for 1 :) I reduced the sugar a little too. The recipe only called for 1/4 cup but I added less anyway. I made my own crust instead of using puff pastry but it didnt cook through completely. The pie was done in about 12 mins! Next time, I will pre-bake my crust before adding the mixture. This is so great and my 2 yr old who prefers to eat nothing at all, actually took 4 bites of this one! It reminded me a little of a Caramel pudding my mom use to make when I was young. Great stuff!

[Karen Elizabeth]

I live in South Africa and my family loves MelkTert, but the one time I tried making it, it was very laborious and not particularly successful. All that has now changed!!!!! This recipe was easy to follow and produced a beautiful, melt-in-the-mouth melktert....my daughter and I worked together, we Halved the recipe since we were not confident of ourselves! and the pie was eaten up in one go and we wished we had made two!!!!!!!!!! The one thing I found, the custard puffed up while baking, I thought, oh no...but on cooling, it quickly settled to look as it should, so I hope that was what I should have expected? i didnt have any almond essence so I used vanilla essence. Ill be making this again...and again...probably tonight!

[Roxygirl in Colorado]

I choses this for my husband's b-day dinner and it is my new favorite dessert. This turned out "picture perfect" but I needed to increase the baking time since my dough was refrigerated (1 hour)first. The filling is so creamy and fluffy. If you love tarts, custard pie, and pudding, you will love this. I added my cinnamon sugar during the last few minutes and it got crackly like a creme brulee topping. This is a ten star recipe! Roxygirl