Milk Tart

A South African milk tart (melktert) with a sweet pastry crust and a creamy spiced milk custard filling, dusted with cinnamon.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (188 g)		all-purpose flour (pastry crust)
1/3 cup (35 g)		confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1/4 teaspoon	1.3 ml	salt
9 Tablespoons (125 g)		unsalted butter (cold or frozen), cut into small pieces
1		large egg yolk
2 1/4 cups (496 ml)		milk (filling)
2 tablespoons (28 g)		butter
2 tablespoons (20 g)		flour
3-4 tablespoons (23-30 g)		cornstarch
1/2 cup (100 g)		sugar
2		large eggs
2 teaspoons	10 ml	vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon	2.5 ml	almond extract (optional)
1/2 teaspoon	2.5 ml	cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon	2.5 ml	nutmeg (or replace with cinnamon)

Pastry Crust

Butter or spray a 9-inch pie pan with a removable bottom – making sure it has been adequately sprayed. Set aside.
Place flour, salt and sugar in a food processor pulse for a couple of times to mix ingredients.
Throw in butter and pulse until rough dough forms.
Then add egg yolk - pulse until the dough barely comes.
Remove dough place on a work surface - knead just enough to incorporate all the dough. Working the dough as little as possible.
Do not overwork the dough; otherwise it'll be too tough. When it's ready, the dough will be barely moistened and come together into a ball.
Lightly press the dough on the prepared pie pan – working from the center up until the bottom and sides are fully covered with pastry – again be very gentle when pressing the dough onto the pie pan.
Place pie pan in the freezer and freeze for at least 30 minutes or more this helps prevent the dough from rising - if you are in a rush prick, then bake with beans to prevent rising.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.
Bake crust for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is dry and golden browned. Set aside.

Milk Filling

Place saucepan over medium heat, add butter, nutmeg and milk - bring to a boil and remove from the heat.
In another bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, sugar, vanilla and almond extract - whisk in eggs until smooth. Gently whisk into the saucepan making sure there are no lumps.
Now return the pan back on the stove – keep stirring constantly until it starts to bubble.
Cook for about 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and pour mixture into the baked pastry shell. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Chill until ready to be served.

Tips & Notes

You can make the crust ahead of time, bake and leave out until ready to be use.
Use store bought pastry pie if you are press for time.
Switch up the flavors, I used nutmeg and cinnamon - just love the flavor combination.
A lot of recipes call for throwing in cinnamon stick so it infuses the milk mixture – if you have some handy by all means use it, if not just use cinnamon spice.