A South African specialty in honor of Pi

By Kady Guyton
March 9, 2009

Of course everyone has their calendars marked for Pi day this coming Saturday (3.14). If you were debating how to commemorate this most auspicious mathematical date, I would like to direct your attention to our culinary brethren in South Africa. They have created a wonderful dessert known as the milk tart.

Milk tart came to my attention over this past summer when I discovered it is my five-year-old nephew's favorite dessert. Malachi was born in South Africa and apparently developed a taste for milk tart at a very young age.

Mal and the rest of his family have since relocated to Arkansas, but his fondness for milk tart inspired my mother to experiment with recipes until finding one that meets Mal's approval.

Milk tart is a lovely concoction somewhere between custard and creme brulee. Made with eggs and milk, it is typically dusted with cinnamon sugar before baking. A sprinkle of coco powder or vanilla sugar would be an interesting substitute as well.

When making the filling, one might be tempted to skip the crust and make a graham cracker version. Don't. Graham cracker crusts don't hold up well to extended baking and the tart needs between 25 and 30 minutes to set.

The filling is made using the custard method, if you've ever made non-instant pudding, then this won't be much of a stretch. One key I have to remind myself every time is that the filling won't thicken until it does. In other words, don't crank up the heat in an effort to speed up the process. Medium high flame and constant stirring are what's needed.

The crust recipe below is user-friendly and can be made a day ahead. I've mentioned in past columns that it's important that all the ingredients be room temperature prior to baking. That same principle is true here as well, with the difference being that rather than room temp, everything should be as cold as you can stand it. The butter should be well-incorporated, but not melted.

Milk tart can be served warm or chilled and goes well with fresh fruit.

Sweet Tart Crust
Courtesy of Sweetie Pies by Patty Pinner

9, 10 or 11 inch single pie crust

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk
3 tablespoons ice cold milk or water, as needed

1. Measure the flour and sugar into a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter, large fork or your hands cut or pinch the butter into the dry ingredients. Continue until butter is the size of small peas.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk until well beaten and add to the flour mixture, mixing throughly. Mix until the dough comes together, adding milk or water as needed.

3. Shape the dough into a disk and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour and up to 24 hours before rolling out.

South African Melktert (Milk Tart)

3 tablespoons butter
1 cup white sugar
3 egg yolks
1 cup cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups milk
3 egg white
1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar

Line the crust with parchment paper. Fill with dried beans or pie weights and bake for about 10-12 minutes.

Make the filling:
1. Bring half the milk and butter to the boil in a saucepan.

2. Cream the sugar, egg yolks, flour, salt and vanilla with the rest of the milk.

3. Add some of the hot milk to the creamed mixture to temper, then put it back into the saucepan and heat gently until it thickens. Do NOT boil

4. Fold in the egg whites into the filling and pour into the pie crust. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until the center is set when you gently jiggle the pie.