My Family Milk Tart

It seems every nation has their own version of a custard tart - the Portuguese have pasteis de nata, the British have their vanilla custard tarts, Italians their 'torta di nonna' and our South African milk tart sort of falls somewhere in the middle with it's cinnamon topping. No matter what part of the world you're from, it seems we're all unanimously in love with the combination of a creamy egg custard and a crisp pastry base. 

With heritage in mind, I knew there was only one place to go for a proper milk tart recipe in honour of National Milk Tart Day which is today! So I dug out my Great Aunt May's tattered recipe book (I've written about her before). There, right in the very front, was our family recipe for milk tart. There are no notes on where it came from, but I found the same recipe scribbled in the margins of my grandmothers book so I know it's a family favourite!   

The pastry is an interesting one - it contains oil, which is a little odd for me, but ensures a ridiculously crumbly pastry. From her other recipes, I can tell Great Aunt May loved a good shortcut, and this one is no exception. This pastry? It doesn't need to be blind baked! Yes, you read correctly. Can I get a hallelujah on that?! 'Cos if you've ever had to fuss with beans and baking paper and all that nonsense, you'll be rejoicing with me now!

The filling is lusciously velvety with just the slightest quiver - I prefer my milk tart a bit softer than most so if you like yours more set, then just increase the cornstarch. This recipe also makes the sweetest little mini milk tarts - I made these using an old-fashioned madeleine tin which belonged to my grandmother. It seemed totally appropriate for the occasion. 

My Family Milk Tart 

Recipe by Great Aunty May

Makes 1 large tart or 24 small tartlets

No-fuss pastry

110g butter, softened

2 tbsp (30ml) castor sugar

2 tbsp (30ml) vegetable oil

1 egg

2 cups (500ml) cake flour

1 tsp (5ml) baking powder

pinch of salt

Filling

600ml milk

2 tbsp (30ml) cornstarch/cornflour

1 tbsp (15ml) cake flour

4 tbsp (60ml) sugar

3 eggs, separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for dusting

Cream the butter and castor sugar until light and fluffy. Add the oil and egg and beat well. Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt to form a soft pastry. 

Press a thin layer of the pastry into a greased standard pie dish. Prick the bottom and bake at 180C for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool. 

For the filling, bring the milk to a boil (I added a cinnamon stick and bay leaf to mine). 

In the meantime, whisk together the cornstarch, flour, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and cinnamon and a little of the milk to make a creamy paste. Pour the hot milk over the paste, whisking continuously then return to the heat and cook until thickened. 
Whisk the egg whites until stiff then whisk into the still-warm filling. 

Pour the mixture into the baked tart case and sprinkle with extra cinnamon. 

IF YOU LIKED THIS THEN YOU'LL LIKE:

Milk tart pancakes

Milk tart cake

Custard slices

Chocolate hazelnut cinnamon twist

Carbs, chocolate AND sugar all wrapped up in a sugary cinnamony (that's totally a word) crust and twisted together with toasted hazelnuts? This, my foodie friends, is surely what heaven tastes like. And smells like, because the aromas that waft from your oven will certainly make you friends! This bread smelled so good, I fanned myself with the oven in the hopes that the spicy chocolatey-ness would cling to me and act as a delicious perfume. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not.  

But back to the bread. It's super easy and versatile. If you want to swop out the Nutella (why on earth would you want to do that?!) then you could spread the dough with thick custard or stick to the simple cinnamon sugar. Go nuts with the nuts and use almonds, pecans, walnuts - whatever your heart desires. And don't be fooled by those intricate-looking twists - this bread is dead easy to make. Almost as easy as eating it!

Chocolate hazelnut twist 

Serves 8-10

3 cups cake flour

1 tsp salt

¼ cup sugar

60g butter or margarine, softened

10 g instant yeast

1 large egg, beaten

½ cup lukewarm water

1 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (ie. Nutella)

3 tbsp sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

50g hazelnuts, skinned and toasted

1 cup icing sugar, sifted

30-45ml espresso or strong coffee

Preheat the oven to 180C. Combine the flour, salt and sugar then rub in the butter to form rough breadcrumb texture. Add the yeast and mix well. Add the beaten egg and just enough water to form a soft dough. Knead the dough by hand for 10 minutes or with an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Leave to rest for 10 minutes. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle about about 1/2cm thick. Spread a thin layer of chocolate spread over the dough and leave a 1cm border around the edges.Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the chocolate along with the toasted hazelnuts, pressing the nuts into the dough. Beginning at the longest side of the rectangle, roll the dough into a long cylinder. Cut the cylinder in half lengthwise down the middle and open it up to expose the layers. Twist the two pieces around each other to create a plait. Form into a ring on a lined baking sheet, folding the ends under each other. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour or until golden brown and when tapped the bread makes a hollow sound. Mix the icing sugar and coffee together to form a smooth drizzling consistency then dribble the icing over the slightly cooled wreath and serve.

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Milk tart pancakes with cinnamon crumble

I've decided to celebrate Heritage month (taken from Heritage Day on the 24 September) by preparing a few traditional South African foods but with a little Katelyn flair! Pancakes (or crepes to the rest of the world) are an integral part of South African culture, particularly famous for being sold at church bazaars or farmer's markets where they come wrapped in wax paper on a paper plate and so steaming-hot that they blister your fingers and melt the cinnamon sugar sprinkled inside. 

It was this traditional sprinkling that gave me the idea to stuff the pancakes with another South African favourite; milk tart. This recipe contains an almost deconstructed milk tart filling; creamy cinnamon-spiked custard and a crunchy, crispy, spicy crumble. Pancakes and milk tart were just meant to be combined and so, I give you, the South African double dessert! 

Milk tart pancakes with cinnamon crumbles

Serves 6

Pancakes

125g cake flour

pinch of salt

2 large eggs

250ml milk

2T melted butter or oil

Milk tart filling

2 cups milk

1 cinnamon stick

80ml cake flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2tsp vanilla

Cinnamon crumbles

1 cup cake flour

2 tsp cinnamon

¼ cup sugar

100g butter, chopped

Cinnamon-sugar, to serve*

Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs and milk and whisk into the dry ingredients with the butter or oil. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Heat a non-stick pan and ladle a small amount of batter into the pan. Swirl the pan around to evenly coat it with batter. When the edges begin to lift, flip over and cook the other side until brown.
To make the filling, heat half the milk with the cinnamon stick until just below boiling point then set aside to infuse.
Whisk the remaining cold milk with the flour and ground cinnamon to form a smooth paste then whisk in the hot milk.
Cook over a medium heat until thick and the flour is cooked out. Flavour with vanilla and remove the cinnamon stick. Set aside (cover the surface with clingwrap to prevent a skin forming).
Make the crumbles by combining the flour, cinnamon and sugar and rubbing in the butter to form large crumbs. Spread on a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes, stirring every now and then until golden and crisp. Allow to cool.
Serve the pancakes spread with the milk tart filling, a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar and the crumbles.

*To make the cinnamon sugar, mix 2 tsp ground cinnamon into 1 cup white sugar until combined.

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How to make perfect red wine poached pears

Winter's treasure of plump ripe pears get an even rosier blush with a good glug of red wine and a sprinkling of spices. Embarrassingly simple to prepare, these tipsy poached pears with their gluhwein spices were inspired by the delicious Pinot Noir-themed tasting menu I recently had at Haute Cabriere restaurant in Franschhoek. The menu really got me thinking about how versatile red wine is and Haute Cabriere's range of famous Pinot Noir's infused a soft spiciness to these gems. It's a simple low-fat dessert that will leave a lasting impression on the lips (and not the hips!) But if you're after something more decadent, I'll be posting two more delicious recipes during the coming weeks that use the boozy fruit. 

Photography by Angie Lazaro Photography

Red wine poached pears

(Serves 4)

2 cups red wine (see TIPS)

1/3 cup castor sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

1 vanilla bean,split and seeds scraped

4 ripe pears, peeled

Combine the liquid, sugar and spices in a saucepan and stir until sugar is dissolved. 

Add the pears and bring to the boil. 

Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with a cartouche. 

Poach gently until pears are tender, for about 1 hour. 

Remove the pears. 

Bring the syrup to a boil and reduce until slightly thickened. 

Pour over the pears and allow to cool before refrigerating.

TIPS and IDEAS

• Experiment using different liquids such as white or sparkling wine, fruit juice, port or sweet wine, teas such as green, jasmine, earl grey etc.
• Vary the spices by adding cloves, cardamom, star anise, lemongrass or saffron
• Core the pears from the underside and pipe in flavoured mascarpone or mousse before serving.
• Add poached pears to baked puddings, layer into trifles, or serve with French toast or crumpets drizzled with honey for breakfast.

To book for the Pinot Noir tasting menu:

Haute Cabriere

www.cabriere.co.za

Pass Road, Franschhoek, Cape Town, South Africa

+27 21 876 8500

Sticky star anise beef short ribs

I created this recipe as an ode to a delicious meal I enjoyed recently in a little hole in the wall called South China Dim Sum Bar with a special friend (click here to read about the experience in the words of my crazy BFF - I simply cannot compete with the description of the dinner we had!). Tucked into a tiny space on seedy Long Street in the Cape Town CBD, the dim sum bar is one of those dodgy-looking restaurants that you shrug off as the last place you’d expect to find yumminess. But I found it in the form of sticky beef short ribs, which fell off the bone and were soaked in a rich, lick-your-fingers kind of sauce. It was heaven straight out of a disposable cardboard cup, with steamed rice to soak up the sweet sauce. The best part of this recipe is that it uses short ribs, which are so affordable. It’s a cut that few have the patience to fuss with, but simmer it slow and steady and it’ll make you weak at the knees.

Sticky star anise beef short ribs

Serves 4-6

2kg beef short ribs

6 sticks cinnamon

6 whole star anise

5cm piece ginger, peeled and sliced

¼ cup brown sugar

¾ cup oyster sauce

¾ cup rice wine vinegar

1 cup water

juice of 1 lemon

Rice and fresh coriander, to serve

Place the beef, cinnamon, star anise, ginger, garlic, sugar, oyster sauce, vinegar and water in a baking dish and cover tightly with aluminium foil. Roast for 2 hours at 180 degrees celcius. Remove foil and roast for a further 30 minutes or until tender and sticky. Squeeze the lemon juice over and serve with a mixture of brown and wild rice and fresh coriander on the side.