South African Milk Tart Recipe

Milk Tart is easily one of the most loved desserts in South Africa and whenever I post about it, I get so many lovely comments. The video I shared on TikTok went crazy so I thought I'd share the recipe, as there have been a few followers asking how I make it.

If you aren't sure what Milk Tart is, it's a tart filled with vanilla custard and a sprinkling of cinnamon over the top. There are a few different versions out there so it can be quite daunting to choose one. Some have biscuit bases whereas others have pastry bases. Some are baked custard and others are not. The version I make is a pastry base that's baked and then the custard layer is left to set.

Don't be put off by making the pastry base yourself as it really does make a lot of difference to the taste. But, if you really don't want, you can use a ready-made shortcrust pastry to line the tart - I have tried this myself and it works well but I would recommend making the pastry yourself. It's pretty easy so you might be surprised!

Milk Tart

Pastry Base :

·        80g butter softened

·        ⅓ cup caster sugar

·        1 egg

·        1 ½ cups plain flour

·        1 ½ tsp baking powder

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined and then add the egg.

2. Add the flour and baking powder and mix well to make a dough.

3. Press the dough into a pie dish or mini tartlet tins (you might need to grease the tins depending on your choice of tin).

4. Bake the pastry for 15 minutes at 180°C (you can use parchment paper and baking beans or rice to weigh it down if you prefer and then remove the beans and paper to bake a further 5 minutes to brown).

5. Remove from the oven and let cool before adding the milk tart filling.

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Custard Filling:

·        3 cups milk

·        1 ½ tbsp butter

·        2 eggs

·        ½ cup sugar

·        1 tsp vanilla

·        3 tbsp plain flour

·        3 tbsp cornflour

1. Gently boil the milk and butter over a low heat, stirring to prevent burning.

2. In a different bowl, mix the egg, caster sugar and vanilla. Add the flour and cornflour to the mix.

3. Remove the warm milk from the heat and then add the egg mixture to the milk, stirring and whisking to avoid lumps.

4. Place the pan back onto the low heat and stir continuously until the mixture thickens.

5. Pour the thickened custard onto the pastry base and let it cool before sprinkling with cinnamon.

6. When completely cooled down, the milk tart can be kept in the fridge for 3 days (if it lasts that long!)

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There you go - you've just made a Milk Tart! Let me know if you make it and share it on social media - don't forget to tag The Baking Saffa!