Melktert, biltong, potjiekos, koeksusters, braaivleis en beskuit! One of the best things about travelling is sampling the cuisine unique to each country. My own is no different. South Africa has some truly spectacular flavours and colourful histories resulting in various foods unique to us. Because I have very distinct ideas on health even the traditional foods of South Africa have a rather unusual variation to the original. Milk tart is no different. Milk tart is a rich and creamy custard on a sweetened pastry base. Traditionally!! Of course, I have my own version. Cape Malays introduced the cinnamon flair to the milky pie that Dutch settlers first baked in the Cape. Cinnamon is definitely the winning ingredient!
Thanks to my beloved goats I always have plenty of their liquid gold to make any number of wonderful foods. Of course my favourite is in the fermented form - not only kefir and yoghurt but various yummy goats milk cheeses. Many of you know my favourite goatie dish - cheesecake! And today we devoured a traditional Buckaroo favourite; milktart made with goats milk!
Cinnamon is an amazing spice. It adds such an wonderful flavour to dishes - sweet or savoury. What makes milktart a signature tradition is the cinnamon. In sweet dishes cinnamon is also amazing as a natural medicine as it balances sugar levels. For those with sugar issues (such as diabetes) I believe cinnamon is an essential medicinal food.
MILKTART:
1 litre goats milk
100g coconut flour (or any combination of gluten-free)
100g cornstarch
4 organic eggs
1 cup coconut blossom sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Teaspoon tip salt
Generous sprinkling of cinnamon
Most bases for cakes and tarts involve both extra work as well as gluten in some shape or form. The traditional milktart requires either cookies or a thick white cake flour base with sugar. My family love the cake minus the crust. I also prefer to avoid gluten wherever possible. Crustless cheesecake or crustless milktart are just as delicious - and naturally faster to make! However, for the crusty lovers, you can always blitz up a heaped cup of pecan nuts with about 6 - 8 large dates and a dash of cinnamon. Press into your pie dish and voila!!
And then onto the filling! Over a low temperature, heat your one litre of goats milk with the butter.
While the milk is heating measure all the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl and blend well.
You want the milk at boiling point but not actually boiling!! Once hot, slowly pour a little of the milk into the rest of the mixed ingredients. While you are pouring you need to beat the mix.
The reason for adding the hot milk to the rest (instead of the other way around) is to prevent the eggs scrambling when the hit the pot of hot milk. Once you have added about a cup of hot milk, put the milk back on the low heat and pour all of the egg and flour mix into the milk - whisk briskly (or beat).
With the traditional recipe you will have a white filling, however the rich brown of the coconut blossom sugar makes the milk tart appear more like caramel. It also tastes more like a caramel milk tart - which we love! Keep whisking over a low heat. This prevents lumps while allowing the milk tart to cook through and thicken. Suddenly the mix will thicken. When this happens immediately pour it into your pie dish. And quickly sprinkle a relatively thick layer of cinnamon.
There is so much I love about this recipe. It is quick. It is healthy. It is untraditional. The amount of dirty dishes is limited. And .... we can wake up and eat cake for breakfast - which is one of my favourite ways to start a day!