MILK TART

An evergreen favourite with a slightly sweetened short-crust pastry.
Pastry

750ml flour

Salt to taste

10ml baking powder

30g butter

45ml (3 tbsp) sugar

2 eggs

A little iced water

Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Cream butter and sugar in a separate bowl. Beat eggs and add to creamed butter and sugar; beat thoroughly. Sift flour into egg mixture and gently mix to form a soft dough. Add a little iced water if necessary. Roll out into 5mm thickness and line a loose-bottomed tin of 25cm diameter. Press dough lightly into tin, neatly finish off edges, prick with fork and brush with lightly beaten egg white to prevent the dough from becoming soggy.

Filling

500ml sugar

50ml flour

Pinch of salt

1 litre milk

5ml vanilla essence

4 cardamom pods

2 sticks cinnamon

9 eggs, separated

30g butter

30ml cinnamon sugar

Mix half the sugar with flour and salt. Bring milk to the boil over low heat. Carefully stir the flour mixture into the milk and continue stirring over low heat until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add vanilla essence, cardamom and cinnamon. Beat egg yolks. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until mixture is light and creamy. Stir egg mixture into milk mixture. Leave to cool slightly and remove cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into filling. Spoon filling into unbaked crust. Dot with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 1800C for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 1600C and bake until crust is golden.

Recipe: Cass Abrahams, Cass Abrahams Cooks Cape Malay: Food from Africa

Food Styling: Pete Goffe-Wood, PGW Eat