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Written by A Milk Tart Recipe with some Condensed Milk for that little extra richness.
This traditional South African recipe comes with many twists and turns. This particular twist is with some condensed milk.
Reuben Riffel’s Milk Tart recipe forms the basis for this one which has a few changes in it to incorporate the condensed milk and relies more on its richness and sweetness for flavour than the cinnamon or nutmeg.
| For the Filling | |||
| Milk | 500 | ml | |
| Condensed Milk | 200 | g | |
| Butter | 80 | g | |
| Egg Yolks | 3 | ||
| Salt | a | pinch | |
| Cake Flour | 60 | ml | |
| Egg White | 3 | ||
| For the Base | |||
| Butter | 2 | tablespoons | |
| White Sugar | 2 | tablespoons | |
| Egg | 1 | ||
| Self Raising Flour | 3/4 | cup | |
| Salt | a | pinch | |
| OR | |||
| Puff Pastry | |||
| Ground Cinnamon |
For the Milk Tart Base:
1 . Grease the tart dish with a little butter
2 . Mix all the ingredients together with an electric beater or a processor
3 . When it clumps together in a dough press into the tart dish.
4 . Allow to chill in the fridge while preparing the filling.
5 . Or you can use store bought puff pastry.
For the Milk Tart Filling:
1 Pour the milk and condensed milk into a pan
2 Add the butter
3 Bring to a simmer
4 In a separate bowl add the egg yolks
5 Add a pinch of salt and cake flour
6 . Give it all a good stir
7 . Once the butter in the milk melts, pour into the bowl with the egg yolks.
8 . Return everything back to the pan on the stove
9 . Allow to thicken, stirring occasionally. (It must be like a thick sauce)
10 . Remove from the stove and pour the milk tart filling into a bowl
11 . Cover with grease proof paper to prevent a skin from forming
12 . Place in the fridge for 15 minutes
13 . Line the tart bowl with the pastry
14 . Once the filling has cooled, whisk the egg whites to a soft peak
15 . Gently fold the egg whites into the filling mixture
16 . Pour the milk tart filling into the pastry lined tart case
Cooking:
1 . Place the milk tart in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes
2 . When done sprinkle with cinnamon
A little wiki about Milk Tart / Melktert
Meaning “milk tart” in Afrikaans, melktert is a South African dessert.
It is a sweet pastry crust containing a creamy filling made from milk, flour, sugar and eggs.
The ratio of milk to egg is higher than in a traditional European custard tart or Chinese egg tart, resulting in a lighter texture and a stronger milk flavour.
Some recipes require the custard to be baked in the crust, and others call for the custard to be prepared in advance, and then placed in the crust before serving. Cinnamon is often sprinkled over its surface. The milk used for the custard can also be infused with a cinnamon quill before preparation.
Milk Tarts / Melkterts are described as a dessert that shows distinctive Dutch traits.
A little wiki about Condensed Milk
Condensed milk is cow’s milk from which water has been removed, hence the name condensed or sweetened condensed milk due to the sugar that is added. Sweetened condensed milk is a very thick, sweet product which when canned can last for years without refrigeration if unopened.
Condensed milk is used in numerous dessert dishes in many countries, including the United States, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Hong Kong SAR, Lebanon, Russia.
Raw milk is clarified and standardized, and then is heated to 85-90C for several seconds. This heating destroys some micro organisms, decreases fat separation and inhibits oxidation. Some water is evaporated from the milk and sugar is added to approximately 45%. This sugar is what extends the shelf life of sweetened condensed milk. Sucrose increases the liquid’s osmotic pressure, which prevents microorganism growth. The sweetened evaporated milk is cooled and lactose crystallization is induced.
According to the writings of Marco Polo, in the 13th century the Tatars were able to condense milk. Marco Polo reported that 4.5 kg of milk paste was carried by each man, who would subsequently mix the product with water.
Nicolas Appert condensed milk in France in 1820 and Gail Borden, Jr. in the United States in 1853. Before this development, milk could only be kept fresh for a short while and was only available in the immediate vicinity of a cow. While returning from a trip to England in 1851, Borden was devastated by the death of several children, apparently from poor milk obtained from shipboard cows. With less than a year of schooling and following in a wake of failures, both of his own and of others, Borden was inspired by the vacuum pan he had seen being used by Shakers to condense fruit juice and was at last able to reduce milk without scorching or curdling it. Even then his first two factories failed and only the third, built with his new partner, Jeremiah Milbank in Wassaic, New York, produced a usable milk derivative that was long-lasting and needed no refrigeration. In 1864, Gail Borden’s New York Condensed Milk Company constructed the New York Milk Condensery in Brewster, New York. This condensery was the largest and most advanced milk factory and was Borden’s first commercially successful plant. Over 200 dairy farmers supplied 76,000 liters of milk daily to the Brewster plant as demand was driven by the Civil War.
Condensed milk can be made from evaporated milk by mixing one measure of evaporated milk with one and a quarter measures of sugar in a saucepan, then heating and stirring the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved, then cooling. It can be made by simmering regular milk until it is reduced by 60%, then adding sugar.
