Sisters & Tarts

Milk Tart or Melk Tert is one of my very favourite South African recipes. It is very easy and simple to make and it is very cheap requiring very little beyond the basic ingredients most of us have in our cupboards anyway. As a dessert goes it is actually pretty low calorie and you could even go the extra mile by substituting skim milk and a sugar substitute.
This is my 5 year daughters absolute favourite dessert and she asks for it all the time.
I like to buy the 9 inch short bread ready made crusts for these. 1 batch will fill a 9 inch all the way to the rim leaving only a tiny space which is the correct pour for a milk tart.

Ingredients:

4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1. In a large saucepan, combine milk, vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon butter or margarine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then remove from burner.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together 2 1/2 tablespoons flour, cornstarch, and 1/2 cup sugar. Add beaten eggs to sugar mixture and whisk until smooth. Slowly whisk mixture into milk. Return pan to heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 5 minutes. Pour mixture into pastry shell. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Chill at least 2-4 hours before serving.

Once you add the mixture to the milk make sure you keep a constant stir. I prefer to use a whisk at this stage. Also lower the heat as soon as it starts to thicken to prevent your mixture from burning.