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Milk Tart Recipe

Milk Tart Recipe

This creamy, insanely delicious and not too sweet milk tart recipe with an intense vanilla and cinnamon flavor is absolutely to die for!! Made with very simple ingredients that you always have on hand. Makes a perfect anytime dessert!

Milk tart also known as melktert is basically a cinnamon and vanilla flavored pudding/ custard tart that’s popular in South Africa but also in Namibia. Just like malva pudding you’ll find it on almost every restaurant/ lodge Menu countrywide.

This melk tert recipe is unbelievably easy to make, uses simple ingredients and tastes amazing. Made up of a beautifully crumbly pie crust that’s blind baked and filled with (unbaked) custard/ pudding with a great hint of vanilla and cinnamon.

Then chilled and dusted with cinnamon before serving. A must have recipe for creamy dessert lovers!!

I always let my milk – sugar sauce for the filling after bringing it to a boil infuse for at least 2 hours with vanilla seeds, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick in the sauce. Before thickening it with cornstarch and flour mixture.

Just to intensity the cinnamon and vanilla flavor. But you could just use vanilla essence or vanilla sugar instead of vanilla bean.

3 important tips for making no fail melktert recipe:

1) You must let the pie crust cool completely before adding the filling. Otherwise the crust will become soggy, if you fill it immediately.

2) Once you’ve added egg – flour mixture to the pot for thickening keep stirring constantly , otherwise the sauce will get lumps, that will affect the creamy and smooth texture of the custard.

3) Let the tart cool to room temperature for an hour after filling it with custard, before putting it in the refrigerator. This prevents the crust from getting soggy.

What you’ll need to make melk tert recipe

What you’ll need for the pie crust

  • 125 g (4.4 oz/ about 1/2 cup) butter, softened
  • 65 g (2.3 oz/ 1/3 cup) sugar
  • 1 medium egg
  • 250 g ( 8.8 oz/ 2 cups) plain flour (all purpose flour)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • pinch of salt

What you’ll need for the milk tart custard filling

  • 625 ml (21.13 fl. oz/ 2 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 medium egg
  • 85 g (3 oz/ about 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons) sugar
  • 30 g (1.1 oz/ ¼ cup) plain flour (all purpose flour)
  • 30 g (1.1 oz/ ¼ cup) cornstarch (corn flour)
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Hint: : If you don’t have vanilla bean, try to use 2- 3 teaspoons vanilla essence or about 3 tablespoons vanilla sugar.

Also if you don’t have cinnamon stick, but want to make this recipe so badly, then use 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon instead. If you don’t use vanilla bean and cinnamon stick, the there is no need to let your milk mixture infuse for 2 hours.

You’ll also need

  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon to garnish
  • 28 cm (11 inch) flan dish (tart pan)
  • dried beans, rice, lentils and co. to weigh down the tart crust

How to make milk tart recipe with vanilla bean and cinnamon stick

How to make milk tart crust

Start off by mixing the shortcrust pastry ingredients into a bowl together with your hands to a firm dough. Wrap it with a cling film or parchment paper and chill for about 30 minutes. In the meantime make the filling.

How to make custard filling for milk tart

Using the tip of the knife split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the vanilla seeds. Mix the scraped out seeds with sugar very well.

In a medium pot combine milk (leaving about 5 tablespoons milk behind for later), vanilla sugar that you’ve just made, cinnamon stick and empty vanilla bean pod and bring to a boil (at a low heat).

Remove from the heat and let infuse for at least 2 hours. In this way the vanilla and cinnamon flavors will be intensified.

Preheat the oven to 180 ° C (372 °F), with both top and bottom heat.

How to roll out and bake pastry shortcrust

After chilling the dough, take it out of the fridge. Now you can either either

1) crumble the pastry into a buttered tart pan. Using your hands, press the shortcrust pastry into the pan. Make the pastry a bit high on the sides as well.

2) or you roll out the dough between two parchment papers. Rolling it out this way makes life makes easier. Remove the parchment paper on top, but leave the one at the bottom of the rolled out pastry.

Transfer the shortcrust pastry to a tart pan and make it fit nicely. – (If you want, you can also roll out the pastry dough on a floured work surface with a floured rolling pin. Then transfer it to the tart dish with the help of the rolling pin.).

Now prick the pastry several times with a fork. Use either dried beans, rice, lentils and co. to weigh down the milk tart crust. Simply line the tart dough with parchment paper and add some weight. Blind bake for 35 minutes.

  • Feel free to remove the weight 5 minutes before the end of baking time, so that the tart crust will become nicely golden brown.

Remove the tart crust from the oven, followed by the weight and let cool completely before filling. This takes about 2 hours. Feel free to make the crust a day or two in advance.

Now it’s time to go back to making the melktert filling

After 2 hours, heat the cinnamon-vanilla-milk mixture on low heat and remove the vanilla pod and cinnamon stick.

Whisk together cornstarch, plain flour, an egg and leftover milk and add mixture to the pot. Keep stirring constantly until the custard thickens.

Stir in the butter and immediately pour the filling into blind baked tart crust. Let cool to room temperature for an an hour.

  • Letting the pie crust cool completely before filling it up, to prevent the crust fr from becoming soggy.

Put the melktert in the refrigerator until the filling has completely set. Sprinkle with cinnamon just before serving and enjoy.

Love this Milk Tart Recipe? Try my malva pudding recipe, too.

Milk Tart Recipe

This creamy, insanely delicious and not too sweet South African milk tart recipe (melk tert recipe) with an intense vanilla and cinnamon flavor is absolutely to die for!! Made with very simple ingredients that you always have on hand. Makes a perfect anytime dessert!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Chill Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 35 minutes
Course: Baking, Dessert, Puddings and desserts
Cuisine: African, Angolan, Botswanan, Namibian, South African
Keyword: custard tart, easy milktart recipe, how to, melk tert recipe, Melktert, melktert recipe, milk tart recipe, Namibian milk tart recipe, South African custard tart, South African milk tart recipe
Servings: 8 Servings
Author: Ester | esterkocht.com

Equipment

  • 28 cm (11 inch) flan dish (tart tin).
  • Parchment paper
  • Rolling pin
  • Small pot or saucepan
  • Whisk

Ingredients

For the shortcrus pastry

  • 125 g (4.4 oz/ about 1/2 cup) butter softened
  • 65 g (2.3 oz/ 1/3 cup) sugar
  • 1 medium egg
  • 250 g ( 8.8 oz/ 2 cups) plain flour/ all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • a pinch of salt

For the custard filling

  • 625 ml/ 21.13 fl. oz/ 2 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 cinnamon stick (SEE NOTES)
  • 1 medium egg
  • 85 g (3 oz/ about 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons) sugar
  • 30 g (1.1 oz/ ¼ cup) plain flour/ all purpose flour
  • 30 g (1.1 oz/ ¼ cup) cornstarch (corn flour)
  • 1 vanilla bean (SEE NOTES)
  • 2 tablespoons butter

You'll also need

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to garnish
  • dried beans, rice, lentils or similar to weigh down the tart crust

Instructions

  • Start off by mixing the shortcrust pastry ingredients into a bowl together with your hands to a firm dough. Wrap it with a cling film or parchment paper and chill for about 30 minutes. In the meantime make the filling.
  • Using the tip of the knife split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the vanilla seeds. Mix the scraped out seeds with sugar very well. In a medium pot combine milk (leaving about 5 tablespoons milk behind), vanilla sugar that you've just made, cinnamon stick and empty vanilla bean pod and bring to a boil (at a low heat). Remove from the heat and let infuse for at least 2 hours. In this way the vanilla and cinnamon flavors will be intensified. Then Preheat the oven to 180 ° C (372 °F), with both top and bottom heat.
  • After chilling the dough, take it out of the fridge. Now you can either either 1) crumble the pastry into a buttered tart pan. Using your hands, press the shortcrust pastry into the pan. Make the pastry a bit high on the sides as well.
    2) or you roll out the dough between two parchment papers. Rolling it out this way makes life makes easier. Remove the parchment paper on top, but leave the one at the bottom of the rolled out pastry. Transfer the pastry to a tart tin and make it fit nicely. – (If you want, you can also roll out the pastry dough on a floured work surface with a floured rolling pin. Then transfer it to the tart dish with the help of the rolling pin.)
  • Now prick the pastry several times with a fork. Use either dried beans, rice, lentils and co. to weigh down the milk tart crust. Simply line the tart dough with parchment paper, add some weight and blind bake for 35 minutes. Feel free to remove the weight 5 minutes before the end of baking time, so that the crust will become nicely golden brown. Remove the tart crust from the oven, followed by the weight and let cool completely before filling. This takes about 2 hours.
  • Now it's time to go back to making the milk tart filling. After 2 hours, heat the cinnamon-vanilla-milk mixture on low heat and remove the vanilla pod and cinnamon stick. Whisk together cornstarch, plain flour, an egg and leftover milk and add mixture to the pot. Keep stirring constantly until the custard thickens.
  • Stir in the butter and immediately pour the filling into blind baked tart crust. Let cool to room temperature for an an hour. Then place it in the refrigerator until the filling has completely set. Sprinkle with cinnamon just before serving and enjoy.

Notes

  • If you don’t have vanilla bean, try to use 2- 3 teaspoons vanilla essence or about 3 tablespoons vanilla sugar. Also feel free to substitute cinnamon stick with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. If you don’t use vanilla bean and cinnamon stick, the there is no need to let your milk mixture infuse for 2 hours.
  • Feel free to remove the weight 5 minutes before the end of baking time, so that the crust will become nicely golden brown.
  • You must let the shortcrust pastry cool completely before adding the filling, otherwise the crust will become soggy, if you fill it immediately.
  • Once you’ve added egg – flour mixture to the pot for thickening keep stirring constantly , otherwise the sauce will get lumps, that will affect the creamy and smooth texture of the custard.
  • Let the tart cool to room temperature for an hour, before putting it in the refrigerator to set. This prevents the crust from getting soggy.

Did you make this milk tart recipe? I’d love to hear from you! Simply write a comment and add rating to it.

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