Milk Tart
This easy, rich, and creamy milk tart (melktert) is the perfect entertaining pie with a simple press-in shortcrust pastry. Get smooth South African cheesecake vibes without the work, time, and expense.
It doesn’t take much to make this delicious, perfect-for-celebrating tart. This popular dessert qualifies as quick and easy to whip up in a pinch. The ingredients are probably right in your pantry, so no extra shopping is needed for a satisfying made-from-scratch dessert.
And the best part? It’s great for the holiday season. Melktert, as it’s called in Afrikaans, is a creamy custard pie with a delicate, lighter texture and a strong milk presence.
What the Texture Is Like
Don’t wait for this pie to firm up because it just doesn’t; it’s more of a pudding with a crust. Even better, you don’t have to roll out the pate sablée, the traditional sweet pastry crust. All you do is press the dough into the pie (tart) pan, freeze for 30 minutes, and then bake without weights. Freezing prevents the shortcrust from getting crazy.
How to Make Milk Tart
- Pulse the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor a couple of times. Then toss in the butter and pulse until a rough dough forms. Pulse in the egg yolk and knead just until it comes together into a ball.
- Press the dough into the prepared tart pan, working from the center out until the bottom and sides are fully covered. Freeze it and bake it until golden brown.
- Heat the milk, butter, and spices. Then mix the sugar, extracts, and thickeners.
- Mix the eggs into the thickening mixture, then whisk it into the hot milk, and simmer until thickened. Pour it into the tart crust, dust with cocoa powder or cinnamon, and chill it.
Recipe Tips
- Make the crust ahead of time, bake it, and leave it at room temperature for up to 2 days until ready to make the tart.
- You can also make shortbread cookies with this dough.
- Don’t feel guilty about using a store-bought pie crust if pressed for time.
- A lot of recipes call for infusing the milk with a cinnamon stick, so go for it if you have some handy.
Making it Ahead and Storage
Since it benefits greatly from chilling, this custard-like pie is great for making the day before. Cover well with plastic wrap and slice it when ready to enjoy.
Even though it will last in the fridge for 3-4 days (even up to a week), I don’t recommend freezing it. The filling may separate and start to weep. If you know, you know.
More Delectable South African Dessert Recipes
- Traditional Koeksisters
- Pampoenkoekies
- Malva Pudding
- Aebleskiver Danish Pancakes
- Condensed Milk Cake
By Imma
This blog post was originally published in November 2014 and has been updated with additional tips and new photos.
Milk Tart
Ingredients
Pastry Crust (pâte sablée or pâte sucrée)
- 1½ cups (180g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (40g) confectioner's sugar
- ¼ teaspoon (2g) salt
- 9 tablespoons (125g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (cold or frozen)
- 1 large egg yolk
Milk Filling
- 2¼ cups (530ml) milk
- 2 tablespoons (28g) butter
- ½ teaspoon (1-2g) ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (1-2g) nutmeg (or more cinnamon)
- 2 tablespoons (15g) flour
- 3-4 tablespoons (22-30g) cornstarch
- ½ cup (100g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (2-3ml) almond extract (optional)
- 2 large eggs
- cocoa powder or ground cinnamon for dusting
Instructions
Pastry Crust
- Grease a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, making sure it is well coated. Set aside.
- Place flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to mix the ingredients.
- Toss in the butter and pulse until a rough dough forms.
- Add the egg yolk and pulse until the dough barely comes together.
- Remove the dough, place it on a work surface, and knead just enough to incorporate everything, working the dough as little as possible. Overworked dough will make tough pastry. When it's ready, it will be barely moist and come together into a ball.
- Lightly press the dough onto the prepared pie pan, working from the center out until the bottom and sides are fully covered. Again, be gentle when pressing the dough onto the pie pan.
- Place the pie crust in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to prevent the dough from rising during baking. If you are in a rush, weigh it down with beans to prevent it from rising.
- Place the rack in the center of the oven, then preheat it to 400℉ (205℃).
- Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes or until it's dry and golden brown. Set aside.
Milk Filling
- Place a saucepan over medium heat, add milk, butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and bring it to a boil. Remove it from the heat.
- In another bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and the extracts. Whisk in the eggs until smooth. Gently whisk the mixture into the saucepan, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
- Now return the pan to the heat and keep stirring constantly until it starts to bubble. Cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into the baked pastry shell. Sprinkle it with cocoa powder or ground cinnamon and chill until ready to serve.
Tips & Notes:
- Pâte sablée and pâte sucrée have the same ingredients, but the process is different and delivers slightly different results. The pâte sablée is crumblier, while the pâte sucrée puffs up more. I won’t tell anyone if you use a different crust.
- If, in spite of your best efforts, there are lumps in the milk filling, an immersion blender will take care of it. Just be careful not to burn yourself.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
