Cheat’s Milk Tart Custard Slices with Cinnamon

Cheat’s Milk Tart Custard Slices with Cinnamon

This is the best/only custard slice recipe you will ever need, people! Okay so it’s kinda cheating – it’s made with cream crackers and custard powder but darn does it taste good! And while I’ve given this version a milk tart twist for National Milk Tart Day (which by the way is on the 27 February) best believe it is equally delicious with the traditional tangy lemon glaze – so I’ve included a recipe for that too. I was given this recipe by my childhood best friend, Tammy – her mom used to send her to the farm I grew up on with a tin filled to the brim with these creamy slices every Friday after school. We’d sit in our treehouse (which we built ourselves – girl power!) and devour them, sharing them only with each other (‘cos no trespasser’s allowed!) and getting custard all over our hands – the best part about custard slices is the fact that they squish everywhere and it requires much licking of fingers to get every last bit of the creamy filling!
I must add that the recipe wasn’t just given to me – it was carefully handwritten and lovingly placed into a folder along with all my other best friends’ favourite recipes (all scribbled down on various coloured paper with different handwriting) for my 18th birthday. It is still one of my most treasured possessions – and the title of the cookbook?  ‘Katelyn’s Favouriteistest Favourite Flop-Proof Recipe Cookbook – Made with love by all her friends’ How awesome is that? Pretty awesome – almost as awesome as these custard slices!

Milk Tart Custard Slices

Makes 16-20

 

1 x 200g packet unsalted cream crackers

½ cup cake flour

100ml maizena or corn flour

20ml custard powder (or substitute with extra Maizena)

pinch of salt

100ml water

1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

3 eggs, separated

1 litre full cream milk

1 cup Natura Sugars Soft Brown Sugar

60g butter

 

For dusting:

1/4 cup Natura Sugars Demerara Icing Sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Line a 20 x 30cm cake tin with baking paper and arrange a layer of crackers on the bottom. Make a paste with the flour, cornflour, custard powder, salt, water, vanilla, egg yolks and 1/2 cup of the milk. Heat the remaining milk, vanilla, cinnamon stick, sugar and butter and add to the paste while whisking. Return to the pot and cook until the custard is thick, stirring continuously. Whip the egg whites until stiff then fold into the lukewarm custard. Pour the custard over the crackers and place another layer of crackers on top. Allow to set in the fridge until completely cool. Mix the icing sugar and cinnamon then dust the slices. Cut into slices and serve.

 

TIP To make the traditional lemon glaze (instead of the cinnamon topping), mix 1 cup demerara icing sugar and the juice of 1 lemon together with a little hot water to form a paste and drizzle over the tops of the custard slices.

Great Aunt May’s Family Milk Tart

Great Aunt May’s Family Milk Tart

It seems every nation has their own version of a custard tart – the Portuguese have pasteis de nata, the British have their vanilla custard tarts, Italians their ‘torta di nonna’ and our South African milk tart sort of falls somewhere in the middle with it’s cinnamon topping. No matter what part of the world you’re from, it seems we’re all unanimously in love with the combination of a creamy egg custard and a crisp pastry base.

With heritage in mind, I knew there was only one place to go for a proper milk tart recipe in honour of National Milk Tart Day which is today! So I dug out my Great Aunt May’s tattered recipe book (I’ve written about her before). There, right in the very front, was our family recipe for milk tart. There are no notes on where it came from, but I found the same recipe scribbled in the margins of my grandmothers book so I know it’s a family favourite!

The pastry is an interesting one – it contains oil, which is a little odd for me, but ensures a ridiculously crumbly pastry. From her other recipes, I can tell Great Aunt May loved a good shortcut, and this one is no exception. This pastry? It doesn’t need to be blind baked! Yes, you read correctly. Can I get a hallelujah on that?! ‘Cos if you’ve ever had to fuss with beans and baking paper and all that nonsense, you’ll be rejoicing with me now!

The filling is lusciously velvety with just the slightest quiver – I prefer my milk tart a bit softer than most so if you like yours more set, then just increase the cornstarch. This recipe also makes the sweetest little mini milk tarts – I made these using an old-fashioned madeleine tin which belonged to my grandmother. It seemed totally appropriate for the occasion.

My Family Milk Tart

Recipe by Great Aunty May

Makes 1 large tart or 24 small tartlets

 

No-fuss pastry

110g butter, softened

2 tbsp (30ml) castor sugar

2 tbsp (30ml) vegetable oil

1 egg

2 cups (500ml) cake flour

1 tsp (5ml) baking powder

pinch of salt

 

Filling

600ml milk

2 tbsp (30ml) cornstarch/cornflour

1 tbsp (15ml) cake flour

4 tbsp (60ml) sugar

3 eggs, separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for dusting

Cream the butter and castor sugar until light and fluffy. Add the oil and egg and beat well. Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt to form a soft pastry. Press a thin layer of the pastry into a greased standard pie dish. Prick the bottom and bake at 180C for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool. For the filling, bring the milk to a boil (I added a cinnamon stick and bay leaf to mine). In the meantime, whisk together the cornstarch, flour, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and cinnamon and a little of the milk to make a creamy paste. Pour the hot milk over the paste, whisking continuously then return to the heat and cook until thickened. Whisk the egg whites until stiff then whisk into the still-warm filling. Pour the mixture into the baked tart case and sprinkle with extra cinnamon.