LIFESTYLE NEWS - This is the recipe for a well loved South African milk tart with a slight difference.

INGREDIENTS

Crust

• 2 packets Tennis biscuits
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 200g butter, melted

Egg mix

• 2 cups full-cream milk
• 6 heaped Tbs cake flour
• 6 heaped Tbs corn flour
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 large eggs

Filling

• 2 x 385g cans condensed milk
• 1 litre full-cream milk
• 2 Tbs butter

Topping

• ground cinnamon
• ½ cup coconut flakes, toasted

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
• Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until they have a fine crumbly texture.
• Add the cinnamon and melted butter and mix.
• In a 26cm springform cheesecake tin, use half the biscuit mix to evenly cover the base and use a tumbler glass to press the crumbs into place.
• Use the other half of the mix to layer the sides to create an even wall around the pan.
• Refrigerate for 30 mins to set.
• Blind bake the base for 8 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely.
• Place all the ingredients for the egg mix, except for the eggs, in a bowl.
• Blitz until well combined and there are no lumps and set aside until needed.
• The eggs will be added just before the entire mixture goes into the filling mixture.

Filling

• Heat the condensed milk, milk and butter in a large pot over medium heat, stirring.
• As soon as the mixture starts to boil, remove the pot from the heat.
• Add the 6 eggs to the egg mix and whisk well.
• Now slowly add the egg mix to the pot with the filling while whisking constantly.
• If you add too fast you'll end up with lumps of cooked egg. Once all the egg mix is incorporated you can return the pot to the heat.
• Whisk the mixture constantly as it gently heats up. The mixture will start to thicken around the 70°C mark. 76°C is the magic number. Don't let it go above 80 °C. Cook the mixture until you have a semi-thick but pourable custard.
• If you overcook the custard it will be too stiff to pour, so take your time with it.
• When ready, immediately pour the custard into your biscuit base.
• Dust with cinnamon and leave it to cool completely before covering with foil and placing in the fridge.

Allow the tart to set overnight.

To remove the tart from the tin, carefully run a knife between the pan and crust then unhinge.

Garnish with toasted coconut and serve.

Beer Pairing
Enjoy with barrel-aged stout. Dark roast malts are toned down by the barrel, which amps up the malt sweetness and loves the creamy, vanilla-biscuit flavours in the tart, and plays well with the cinnamon and toasted coconut.

'We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news'