Intermediate
Moroccan
Chicken Tagine with Olives and Lemon
Source: Traditional
90 min4420 kcal
HalalGluten-freeDairy-free
Melktert
A thin pastry case filled with a milk custard set just firm enough to slice, dusted with a heavy line of cinnamon — more milk than tart, and served cold in the afternoon.
Source
Recipe by Afrikaner farm kitchens · 🏺 Traditional · Dutch technique meeting African ingredients over three centuries — a cast-iron pot over coals, apricot jam in the savoury dishes, and syrup in everything sweet.
Afrikaner · milk tart — An ownerless traditional dish, so no cook is credited. The cited article confirms the sweet pastry crust, the milk, flour, sugar and egg filling, the cinnamon on top and the Afrikaans name meaning milk tart. Quantities and the folded-whites method are this book's own.
Watch it being made · 3 videos
⏱ 120 min🍽 10 servings🔥 300 kcal🇿🇦 South Africa
HalalVegetarianNut-free
Steps
Line a 24 cm tin with the pastry, prick the base and blind-bake at 190°C for 20 minutes until dry and pale gold.
Bring the milk to a bare simmer with the cinnamon stick, then take it off and leave it 10 minutes to infuse.
Whisk the yolks, sugar, flour, cornflour and salt to a smooth paste. Pour a ladle of hot milk in, whisking, then return it all to the pan.
Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, 6 minutes until it thickens. Take it off, stir in the butter and vanilla.
Whisk the whites to soft peaks and fold them into the warm custard.
💡 The folded whites are what make melktert light instead of dense. A custard tart without them is a different, heavier thing.
Pour into the case, bake at 180°C for 20 minutes until just set with a slight wobble, then cool completely and dust heavily with cinnamon.
💡 Tips
- Serve it cold. Melktert is a fridge tart and the cinnamon flavour comes forward once it is properly chilled.
- A slight wobble in the middle when it comes out is correct. Baked until firm, it cracks as it cools.
- There is a crustless version poured straight into a dish, and plenty of households make only that one.
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