Milk Tart
Milk Tart/Melktert – Easy, Rich and Creamy – Perfect entertaining pie with an easy press-on pastry crust. 
It doesn’t take much to make this delicious, perfect-for-entertaining tart. This popular South African milk tart qualifies as one of those quick and easy tarts to whip up in a pinch. All the ingredients for this milk tart are right in your pantry – no extra shopping needed and it is all made from scratch. And the best part – it is very comforting and great for the holiday season. 
Milk Tart or as the Afrikaans call it Melktert is a creamy milky tart. A little reminiscent of custard pie but more delicate, with a lighter texture and a strong milk presence. Don’t wait for this pie to firm up – it just doesn’t, more of a pudding with a crust. It is made with a sweet pastry crust often referred to as Pate sablée, the good thing about this pastry is that you do not have to worry about rolling it out – all you do is press the crust into the pie pan – freeze for 30 minutes and then bake without weight. Freezing prevents the pie from rising. 
Here are a couple of tips when making milk tart
- You can make the crust ahead of time, bake and leave out until ready to be use.
- Use store bought pastry pie if you are pressed on time
- Switch up the flavors, I used nutmeg and cinnamon
- A lot of recipes call for throwing in a cinnamon stick so it infuses the milk mixture – if you have some handy by all means use it, if not just use cinnamon spice.
Enjoy!
Milk Tart
Ingredients
Sucre Patee (Pastry Crust)
- 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (35grams ) confectioner’s sugar powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 9 Tablespoons (125grams) unsalted butter(cold or frozen) , cut into small pieces
- 1 large egg yolk
Milk filling
- 2 1/4 ( 496 ml) cups milk
- 2 tablespoon (28grams) butter
- 2 tablespoons (20 grams) flour
- 3-4 tablespoons (23- 30grams) cornstarch
- 1/2 cup (100grams) sugar
- 2 Large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg or replace with cinnamon
Instructions
Pastry Crust
- Butter or spray a 9-inch pie pan with a removable bottom – making sure it is has been adequately sprayed. Set aside
- Place flour, salt and sugar in a food processor pulse for a couple of times to mix ingredients.
- Throw in butter and pulse until rough dough forms.
- Then add egg yolk - pulse until the dough barely comes.
- Remove dough place on a work surface - knead just enough to incorporate all the dough. Working the dough as little as possible.
- Do not overwork the dough; otherwise it’ll be too tough. When it’s ready, the dough will be barely moistened and come together into a ball.
- Lightly press the dough on the prepare pie pan – working from the center up until the bottom and sides are fully covered with pastry – again be very gentle when pressing the dough onto the pie pan.
- Place pie pan in the freezer and freeze for at least 30 minutes or more this helps prevent the dough from rising- if you are in a rush brick, then bake with beans to prevent rising.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven
- Bake crust for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is dry and golden browned. Set aside
Milk Filling
- Place saucepan over medium heat, add butter, nutmeg and milk -bring to a boil and remove from the heat.
- In another bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, sugar, vanilla and almond extract- whisk in eggs until smooth. Gently whisk into the saucepan making sure there are no lumps
- Now return the pan back on the stove – keep stirring constantly until in starts to bubble.
- Cook for about 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and pour mixture into the baked pastry shell Sprinkle with cinnamon. Chill until ready to be served.
Tips & Notes:
- You can make the crust ahead of time, bake and leave out until ready to be use.
- Use store bought pastry pie if you are press for time
- Switch up the flavors, I used nutmeg and cinnamon- just love the flavor combination
- A lot of recipes call for throwing in cinnamon stick so it infuses the milk mixture – if you have some handy by all means use it, if not just use cinnamon spice.
Nutrition Information:
The filling tasted great and the crust turned out amazing! But my filling didn’t seem to set 🙁 I followed all the steps but mine didn’t set at all! How long do you recommend leaving it in the fridge to set? Thank you for the recipe, by the way 🙂
Hi Max,
So glad you enjoyed the flavor and that the crust turned out amazing! For the filling, it’s actually not supposed to set completely—it should still have a slight wiggle. That said, try chilling it for at least 4 hours, or overnight for best results. If it’s too runny, add 1 tablespoon (or more) of cornstarch next time for a firmer set. Let me know if you need more tips!
This is definitely my go to milk tart recipe.
It always comes out perfect and it is so simple to make!!
This is definitely a nostalgic dish for me and takes me back to when I was a kid.
Love it so much!
I am so glad to hear this, Laura. Thanks for sharing :)!
Really enjoyed!
Awesome! Glad you loved it!
If you’re based in the UK, you can use cornflour as dictated on the recipie for cornstarch, HOWEVER, it will create a dough-like batter, I used the eyeballing method to add more milk in (mixing it in with a hand mixer in the stove-top pot) until it became a bit more custard like, let it have a bit of a bubble and it set fine in the fridge!
Great! Thanks for the tip, Natalie!
I made this for my South African son in law. It turned out beautifully. I only used 1/4 tsp of almond extract because I find it can be a bit overpowering. I can see myself making this for many family dinners in the future.
Awesome! Thank you for the feedback, Heather!
Buy chance a bought a cream cake, arrived home I taste it, wow, it was fantastic, so I decided to look how to do it , I will soon see how good I ham, to do it.
Do let me know how it turns out, Mimmo :)!
Taste is good but when cooking and stirring the milk filling- measurements exact to recipe – it came out like stodgy but smoothish grey porridge filled with grainy spice (I added nutmeg and cinnamon). Made a quantity change with the milk by adding another cup (250ml) and it still set before it even cooled. What have I done wrong as not the creamy light texture I know it should be.
Hi Nolene,
I am sorry this recipe didn’t turn out quite as you had expected. I am not sure what could have gone wrong. Please make sure you are using cornstarch and not cornmeal or corn flour as this does tend to alter the texture somewhat. Do let me know how it turns out if you decide to give it another go. Thanks!
I also loved it,it tasted amazing how ever the texture was not quite right and i used cornflour. I will be trying again with cornstarch nevertheless amazing recipe
Hi Bohlokoa. Yes, corn flour does give the tart a slightly gritty texture. Cornstarch is ideal for this recipe. Do let me know when you try it again :)!
I made this for boxing day lunch 2023, it travels well too, walking pulling in a trolley, then on a bus. It was devoured. I’m making another right now, all for myself.
It’s wonderful to hear that your Milk Tart was such a hit on Boxing Day, and it’s impressive that it traveled well too! It’s definitely a comforting and satisfying treat.
Making another one just for yourself sounds like a delightful idea. Enjoying a dish you’ve made and love, especially when you don’t have to share, is one of the simple pleasures of cooking and baking.
If you’re looking to experiment with variations or need any tips for your next Milk Tart or any other recipes, feel free to ask. Whether it’s tweaking the traditional recipe or trying something entirely new, I’m here to help.
Enjoy your Milk Tart indulgence!
I see you only added the nutmeg to the milk mixture boil, do you add the 1/2 tsp the recipe calls for when you sprinkle over at the end? Just a bit confused on that otherwise it came out beautifully. Waiting for it to chill now. Was super nervous about the milk mixture turning out clumpy but it was super smooth!!
Hi Suhina! Yes, the 1/2 tsp is sprinkled at the end. Glad it turned out good for you :)!
I’ve made this milk tart many times and if the recipe is followed as is, it comes out perfectly and as you’d expect every time. A firm favorite in my home, and the only milk tart recipe that I use.
Thank you so much for your comment. I love it when recipes are winners:)
I loved thus recipe
Great to happy to hear it worked out well. Thanks so much.
baie lekker!!!
Baie lekker indeed! Enjoy.
This is the best melktert recipe I’ve ever tried. Made it for my friend in France and even she was impressed! 10/10
I’m so happy Toine. Thanks for your feedback.
Everyone loves this tart when i make it but its so easy to make it. I really cant take the credit. Its simply amazing
I’m thrilled to hear that the tart is a hit! Sometimes the simplest recipes turn out to be the most impressive, and it sounds like this one is no exception.
Even if it’s easy to make, you absolutely deserve credit for bringing it to life and sharing it with others. Cooking is not just about the complexity of the recipe, but also about the love and care you put into making it.
Thank you for sharing your experience. It’s feedback like this that makes the food community so enriching. Keep cooking and keep impressing! ️✨
GREAT RECIPE
Thank you, Stay tuned for more amazing recipes.
This tasted amazing. I would love to make it again.
Oh great to hear that. Thank you so much!
Awsome recipe, but the almond extract really ruined it for me, it left a really bad after taste. Next time will not be adding it. Other than that it tastes perfect.
Oh great to hear that. Thank you so much!
Hello.
Do you have a suggestion for a partial substitute for the corn starch? If I use all purpose flour as the substitute, do you know how many tablespoons I would need to use? I only have half of the required amount of corn flour/starch (11g).
Hi Meg! If using flour as the substitute for corn starch in this recipe, I will recommend adding 2 tablespoons of flour to the 11 g of cornstarch you already have. Hope that helps. Do let me know how it works out :)!
Hello 🙂
Your advice to substitute the missing corn flour with the additional flour worked beautifully. Thank you. The milk tart was a real treat.
Awesome! Glad this worked out for you, Meg!:)
Absolutely yummy, my memories went back to when I was a little girl growing up in the Eastern Cape, Baie Baie lekker!
Sounds good, Thanks for sharing:)
This recipe is really great! I’ve been using it for probably 4 years now. And of course added my own personal touch to it. I tend to like it more on the creamier side so I add less cornstarch. But really great!
Also leaving nutmeg and almond extract.
Thanjs
Oh great to hear that. Thank you so much!
I really love this recipe
Thank you so much for writing this, Much Love:)
Very small portion, maybe try and make the recipe one and a half if you want to fill a standard pie dish. There is better melktert recipes available. I tried this one and was disappointed with texture, (to much flour) and the sequence of adding the ingredients is not traditional way of making it. Thank you for sharing
I’m sorry it didn’t turn out as expected. There are so many variations that can affect the end result. Altitude, humidity, oven temperature, etc. Thanks for trying it out.
Thank you very much for featuring a South African recipe! Please note that in Afrikaans it is Melktert, not Meltert 🙂
Thank you for catching that, I just fixed it. Stay connected with the blog and have more amazing recipe collection:)
Corn flour. Not corn starch.
There is a difference between the two. One being that it is nigh on impossible to source cornstarch in many countries.
Another being that they behave differently in cooking.
Some people will tell you they are interchangeable, which is entirely untrue.
Howeve, if you have made this recipe with BOTH and belive the results are acceptable with either please indicate to internet users that this is the case.
I understand the confusion. England and the United States don’t agree on what it means. In the States, cornstarch is what the Brits call cornflour. Hope that clears it up. Thanks for stopping by.