South African custard tart

Name: South African custard tart
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 6-8
Cuisine: African
Ingredients: 250g plain flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 125g unsalted butter, diced; 60g castor sugar; ¼ tsp salt; 1 egg

Adam Liaw

August 31, 2022

This milky custard tart is dusted with cinnamon.William Meppem

Time:30 mins - 1 hourServes:6-8

Who doesn't love a classic custard tart? South Africa's version (a melktert) is one of the most popular dishes in the country.

Ingredients

Sweet pastry

250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
125g unsalted butter, diced
60g castor sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 egg

Filling

3 eggs, whites and yolks separated
200g castor sugar
50g cornflour
50g plain flour
1.25 litres full-cream milk
50g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
½ tsp almond essence
1 tbsp cinnamon powder

Method

Step 1
For the pastry, combine flour, baking powder, butter, sugar and salt in a processor and pulse to form fine crumbs. Add egg and pulse again. Lightly knead until the dough becomes smooth, wrap with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Step 2
On a floured surface, roll the dough to 7mm thick and line a 24cm x 5cm fluted tart tin, trimming away the excess dough. Refrigerate the tart tin for a further 15 minutes.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 180C. Weight the pastry case with pie weights and blind-bake for 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights and continue to bake for 10 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the tin and allow to cool.
Step 4
For the filling, whisk egg yolks and caster sugar together to a thick paste. Whisk in flours until smooth.
Step 5
In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form.
Step 6
Heat milk in a large saucepan to just before boiling. Add a little milk to the eggs, whisk quickly, then add the remaining milk and whisk until smooth. Return the mixture to the saucepan and whisk constantly until very thick. Remove from heat, whisk in butter and almond essence and fold through whisked egg whites.
Step 7
Pour custard into tart shell and flatten the top. Dust with cinnamon and chill for 1 hour before serving.