This is the Best Milk Tart in South Africa – Ever!! With 2 of the Best Ever Crusts – A Biscuit or a Shortbread Pastry Crust. This is the BEST Milk Tart you will ever eat! It does NOT get better than this. I promise this will become your favorite too!
Makes: 2 Milk Tarts with a diameter of 23 cm (9 inches)
Notes:
When measuring: Use a set of measuring spoons. The flour must be loosely packed and leveled off with the back of a knife – NEVER compress the flour! This is baking law.
You may use half butter to margarine to economize, but butter is always best.
Weigh your pastry if you have a scale and form it into 2 balls equal in weight. Place each ball in the center of a pie plate and press out. Easier if you have a pie pastry press, which is a small, hand-held gadget with sloping sides that presses out the pastry onto the bottom and sloped sides of foil pie plates, as well as edges of foil dish, or use the bottom of a glass if you don’t have one. With the tins of a fork, press out a decorative pattern along the rim of your foil plate. Trim off the excess pastry neatly with a knife.
Scottish shortbread Pastry Crust 1 (Baked):
Ingredients:
180 ml Cake Flour – Loosely packed and leveled off with the back of a knife
2 Tablespoon castor sugar
Generous pinch salt
6 Tablespoons (90 ml) butter -You may use hard, good-tasting margarine or half and half
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F)
Sift together flour, castor sugar, and salt.
Rub the butter into the flour until it forms crumbs.
Bring the pastry together to form a ball.
Place each ball into the center of two 23cm /9-inch diameter pie foil plates.
Press out the pastry evenly, making sure to even it out where the bottom meets the sidewalls.
Use the tines of your fork around the rim of the plate edges to press out a pattern.
Trim and neaten pastry overhanging edges by gently running a knife around the outer lip circumference of the plate.
Bake in preheated oven for 8 – 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven. Set aside.
Biscuit Pastry Crust 2 (Instant – No Bake):
Notes:
Do not add sugar if using Tennis biscuits as they are sweet enough – Only add the sugar if you are using South African Marie biscuits.
You may: Butter a 23 x 23 cm square container using square-shaped South Africa Tennis biscuits to line the bottom and exclude the butter.
For Lunch Box Milk Tarts: Butter the bottom of your lunch boxes. Prepare the below recipe, and press it into the bottom of lunch boxes or you may omit the butter and just sprinkle a layer of biscuit crumbs onto the bottoms.
You may bake an all-in-one tart in a flat square metal container (30 x 30 cm) at 180 C for 10 – 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Set aside to cool down before pouring in your filling.
Never be tempted to make a high or tall milk tart as the upper weight will compress out the air below and will result in a poor mouthfeel . - I have tested it.😏
Ingredients:
200 g Tennis or Marie biscuits
122 g of hot melted butter
Pinch of salt to taste
Add 22 ml sugar – Only if using Marie biscuits
Method:
Break up the biscuits and place them into a food processor using your metal blade to pulse until crumbs or place them into a bag and crush them with your rolling pin or feet 😄 until crumbs.
Dissolve butter until melted and hot.
Place biscuit crumbs into the milk tart container you will be using and pour over the hot butter blending all in well together with a teaspoon until you have what looks like wet sand.
Press the mixture into 2 pie foil containers or lunch boxes using a hand-held , pastry press, or the bottom of a drinking glass. Set aside.
Milk Tart Filling:
Notes:
Use a large 5-liter bowl so boiling milk will not rise up spilling over the sides, and messing up your microwave oven.
Ensure your dry measures (cornflour) are scooped up loosely, without compressing, and leveled off with the back of a knife. This is baking law.
When beating your milk tart filling before pouring it into the pastry cases try beating in the air for extra lightness. It gives a better mouthfeel . Easily done with a stick blender held at an angle. There is a knack to this but you will pick it up if you make them regularly. Never over-beat your mixture, as you will lose your air.
I prefer making my milk tarts before I go to bed so that by morning they have fully set.
Ingredients:
1 (385 g) tin condensed milk (use a good brand like Nestle)
4 1/2 cups milk (1.125 liters) full cream milk (I like Jersey milk)
15 ml margarine or butter
3 extra-large eggs
80 ml of corn flour
Pinch salt
5 ml vanilla essence (Optional to taste: 1 – 2 drops almond essence, 3-4 caps caramel essence, 15 – 30 ml vanilla, 3/4 of a whole nutmeg grated)
Cinnamon for sprinkling
Method:
This is my quick and easy microwave method for the filling – You will need 2 identical 5-liter deep micro-safe bowls.
1. To a large micro safe, oven bowl, add your unsifted cornflour with a pinch of salt, followed by cracking over your eggs. Stir all together well with beaters or stick blender (do NOT switch on!) until all the cornflour has been incorporated otherwise you will have flour all over your kitchen! & then give it a quick whizz until smooth & set aside.
2. Bring all the milk to a boil in a microwave oven. Remove and use some of the hot milk to swish out all the condensed milk from the can. Return all the milk to the bowl & continue cooking until it comes to a rolling boil, immediately with a stick blender or beaters running in the other 5-liter bowl, pour boiling milk into the cornflour egg mixture beating continuously. Give it a good whizz trying not to let the temperature drop too much & put it back into (a 1000 w microwave) oven for a further 3 minutes until you see it is starting to thicken up around the walls & edges of the bowl, once it does so quickly remove, beating again to smooth it out & put back in the oven to cook a further 3 minutes until it begins thickening up again around the edges. Beat once again and taste - it should taste cooked. **Be careful not to overcook the corn flour as it will break down and your mixture will begin thinning out. Once the cornflour tastes cooked it is done.
3. While still hot, quickly beat in your butter followed by (all are added to taste) vanilla, caramel essence, 1-2 drops of almond essence & grated nutmeg. I find this combination makes the filling taste so much extra special!😋
4. Place filling into pastry cases. Dust with cinnamon. Allow to cool down a bit & refrigerate to set.