One of South Africa’s favorite snacks with a long tradition, the milk tart, received a well-deserved celebration on Monday (February 27), due to Milk Tart Day.
Milk tart, or Melktert as it was originally known by Dutch settlers in the Western Cape in the 1600s and is said to have been adapted from a recipe for Mattentaart which is a small, sweet cake made from a filling of curdled milk.
This milk tart is extra special because it adds a local favorite dry peppermint milk tart to the recipe.
Peppermint Crunchy Milk Tart
Ingredients for the Base
- 150 g plain flour
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 50 g icing sugar
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
- 50 g Peppermint Crisp, chilled
Method
- Place the flour, unsalted butter, icing sugar and peppermint crisp into a food processor and mix in short bursts until it resembles breadcrumbs.
- Pour into a bowl and add the beaten egg yolks and mix until it forms a dough. If the dough seems too dry, add a teaspoon of water. Form the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk, wrap it in cling film and chill it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out evenly on a floured surface. Lubricate the pan and dust lightly with flour.
- Gently place the rolled dough into a round pan and shape it neatly into the corner. Use a fork to make holes in the base. Cover and refrigerate for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200ºC.
- Remove the tart shell from the fridge, place greaseproof paper on the base and fill with a layer of baked beans (or you can use raw rice).
- Bake for 10 minutes, remove the greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden brown.
- Turn off the oven and leave the base in the oven for 10-15 minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool.
- Meanwhile, make the filling.
READ ALSO: Recipe of the day: 4-ingredient milk tart box
Ingredients for filling
- 500 ml fresh milk
- 28 g of butter
- 20 g of flour
- 25 g of corn starch
- 100 grams of granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
Method
- Put the saucepan on medium heat and add the milk and butter and bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat. In another bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch, sugar and vanilla essence and beat the eggs until smooth.
- Pour the mixture slowly into the pan so that there are no lumps.
- Return the pan to the stove and continue to stir until bubbles begin to form.
- Cook for about 5-6 minutes.
- Add a strainer to get a smooth texture.
Ingredients for the topping
- 50 g Peppermint Crisp, chilled
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or more if you like)
To assemble:
- Pour the still-warm custard into the baked pastry shell to spread evenly.
- Allow to set and cool completely.
- In a bowl finely grate Peppermint Crisp and mix with ground cinnamon and then sprinkle on top of the tart.
- You can use stencils to make it look even better!
This recipe comes from Capsicum Culinary Studio Durban campus.