Melktert
Local and lekker! A South African favourite milk loaded dessert.
Ingredients
Ingredients: Pastry crust
- 125 g butter
- ½ cup 125 ml sugar
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 2 cups 500 ml flour, sifted
- 5 ml 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 ml salt
Ingredients: Filling
- 1 ℓ 4 cups full-cream milk
- 45 ml 1 tbsp[LP3.1] butter
- 3 eggs
- 100 ml sugar
- 25 ml cornflour
- 45 ml 1 tbsp[LP4.1] custard powder
- 45 ml 1 tbsp[LP5.1] cake flour
- 5 ml 1 tsp vanilla essence
- cinnamon
Instructions
Method: Pastry crust
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg.
- Stir into the dry ingredients[LP1.1]. Mix until the mixture becomes crumbly and resembles coarse meal.
- Then use your hands and knead lightly until the dough starts to clump together.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a ball. It should come together easily without being sticky. Flatten the ball slightly with your hands to form a thick disc.
- Wrap it in cling wrap or place it in a container, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften slightly so that it will roll out easily.
- Unwrap the dough and divide it into two equal-sized balls[LP2.1]. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to form two circles, about 25 cm in diameter.
- Line two tins or pastry dishes with the dough. With a sharp knife, trim the edges to fit the tin or dish neatly.
- Cover the tin or dish with cling wrap and place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes, until firm. , (Chilling the pastry bases prevents shrinking.)
- Take the bases out of the freezer and prick it with a fork. Bake blind in a pre-heated oven (190 °C) for 10–15 minutes.
- After removing the greaseproof paper and beans (see box), bake another 5–10 minutes or until base golden brown.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Method: Melktert filling
- Heat milk and butter in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and remove from the heat.
- In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar, cornflour, custard powder, flour and vanilla essence.
- Whisk two spoonsfull of the hot milk into the egg mixture to temper the eggs.
- Slowly pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and cook until it thickens, stirring continuously. Cook the mixture for another 2–3 minutes, until thick and smooth.
- Pour the custard into the baked crusts. Allow the milk tart to cool for at least 4 hours. Dust with cinnamon.
What is blind baking?
Blind baking refers to baking the crust before adding the filling. Because the pastry puffs up during baking, you’ll need to bake it with pie weights, dry beans or uncooked rice. Once the crust is set, you can remove the weights and let it finish cooking. Blind baking prevents the crust from becoming soggy.
How to blind bake the pastry crust:
- Line the dish or tin with the pastry dough (rolled out). Press lightly with your fingertips.
- Then, put a sheet of greaseproof paper on the base and add dry beans onto the paper. Make sure that the paper is well covered with the beans.
- After baking the pastry base for 10–15 minutes, lift off the paper and beans.