Milk Tart recipe as promised:
(sorry you'll have to convert the metric measurements!)
Pastry Crust Ingredients: Filling Ingredients
500g (room temp) and 250g (frozen) butter 1 litre milk
140g cake flour 6 extra large eggs, seperated
3 egg yolks 20 ml maizena
10ml cream of tartar 40 ml cake flour
1can soda water 5 ml vanilla essence (or 1/2 + 1/2 almond extract)
5 ml salt 250 ml (200g) sugar
one large pat butter
pinch salt
Directions:
Sift the flour + salt into mixing bowl
Grate frozen butter into flour mix until it looks like mealiemeal (or corn bread, etc)
Knead for 3 minutes and roll out thinly
Divide butter into 3 equal portions
Spread one portion of the butter onto two thirds of the rolled-out dough
Fold dough, covering all the butter and leave to rest in a fridge for 1/2 an hour
Mix 5 ml of the cream of tartar with the second quantity of butter
Again, roll dough out thinly and spread butter mixture over 2/3 of the dough
Fold and leave to rest for another 1/2 hour
Mix the last quantity of the butter with the rest of the cream of tartar
Roll dough out again and spread the surface of the dough with the butter and cream of tartar mixture. Roll dough up like a swiss roll and cut into 4 equal portions.
Cover each individual portion with plastic wrap and freeze until needed.
The dough is enough for 4 milk tarts
Filling:
Preheat oven to 220ºC
Line two enamel plates with puff pastry.
Boil 750 ml milk
Add maizena, cake flour, salt, and one third of a cup of sugar to the remaining 250 ml milk and mix to a paste
Remove boiled milk from stove and beat paste into milk with a wire whisk until a smooth mixture is formed
Beat egg yolks and 1/3 of a cup of sugar together and add the essences (extracts)
Stir in with warm milk mixture
Beat the egg whites until they start to foam and add 1/3 of a cup sugar and maizena (this prevents the filling from sagging.)
Beat the mixture to a soft peak stage and fold into mixture.
Stir through thoroughly and divide mixture between two lined pie dishes.
Bake at 220ºC for ten minutes
Open and close oven door quickly and bake for another 10 minutes at 200ºC.
Wow, Lauren. Thanks for this blog - I have been enjoying reading about your experiences, and looking at your photos. You girls who are studying in SA are really gaining insight that will alter your perceptions for the rest of your life! Take care.
