Melktert
Cape Dutch milk tart — a shortcrust shell filled with set vanilla milk custard and dusted thickly with cinnamon.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Rest
- 3 hr
- Total
- 4 hr 5 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Melktert is a milk tart with a high ratio of custard to pastry. The filling is milk thickened on the hob with flour and cornflour, enriched with egg yolks and a little butter, flavoured with vanilla and a cinnamon stick, then poured into a blind-baked shortcrust case and left to set. It is finished with a generous shake of ground cinnamon and eaten at room temperature or from the fridge. The custard should wobble, not slice cleanly like cheesecake. This version sets the filling on the hob rather than baking it, which is the more common home method and the harder one to curdle.
What you'll need
13 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Pastry
- Filling
- To finish
Ingredients
Pastry
- Wheat flour, plain200 g
- Butter, cold, cubed100 g
- Sugar50 g
- Egg1
Filling
To finish
- Cinnamon, ground, for dusting15 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Rub the butter into the flour and sugar until sandy. Add the egg and bring together into a dough. Wrap and chill 30 minutes.
35 min
Step 2
Heat the oven to 190 °C. Roll the pastry to 3 mm and line a 24 cm tart tin. Prick the base, line with paper and baking beans, and bake 15 minutes. Remove the paper and bake 8 minutes more until pale gold. Cool.
30 min190°C
Step 3
Warm the milk with the cinnamon stick in a saucepan until steaming. Meanwhile whisk the sugar, flour, cornflour and eggs in a bowl to a smooth paste.
6 min
Step 4
Fish out the cinnamon stick. Pour a third of the hot milk onto the egg mixture, whisking, then return everything to the pan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking without stopping, until thick and just boiling, 4 to 5 minutes. Cook 1 minute more.
6 min
Watch: Keep whisking into the corners of the pan or the bottom will catch and the custard will taste scorched.
Step 5
Take off the heat. Beat in the butter and vanilla. Pour into the cooled pastry case and smooth the top.
3 min
Step 6
Cool to room temperature, then chill at least 2 hours until set. Dust thickly with cinnamon just before serving.
120 min
Tip: Dust only when serving. Cinnamon on a tart that goes back in the fridge turns damp and dark.
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 385 kcal
- Protein
- 8.5 g
- Carbs
- 49.6 g
- Fat
- 17.1 g
- Saturated fat
- 9.8 g
- Fibre
- 1.3 g
- Sugar
- 23.9 g
- Sodium
- 67 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Milk
- Eggs
- Vegetarian
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Home-made shortcrust → Ready-rolled shortcrust pastry
Blind-bake exactly the same way.
Tips
- The custard should still wobble in the centre when you cut it. If you want a firmer slice, add another 10 g of cornflour.
- A biscuit base of 200 g crushed Tennis or digestive biscuits with 80 g melted butter is a common no-bake shortcut.
History & culture
Melktert is the tart of church bazaars, Afrikaans kitchen tables and supermarket bakery counters across South Africa. There is a National Melktert Day in February. It is served with afternoon coffee, after Sunday lunch, and at every funeral tea. The cinnamon on top is not optional.
Descended from the Dutch mattentaart and medieval European milk tarts, brought to the Cape with the seventeenth-century Dutch settlement and shaped by the cinnamon that the Dutch East India Company shipped through the colony. The thin, barely sweet custard distinguishes it from Portuguese egg tarts.
Traditional — A stovetop-set custard in a baked shell. Some families bake the custard in the raw shell, and some use a crushed-biscuit base. All three are called melktert.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Melktert take?
4 hr 5 min all in — 30 min prep, 35 min cook, 3 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 8 slices. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk, Eggs. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Nut-free.
9 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Rolling pin, Oven, Saucepan.
How much salt do I put in?
This recipe does not list a salt amount. We will not invent one.
How much sugar?
50 g of Sugar.
How much sugar?
100 g of Sugar.
What can I use instead?
Home-made shortcrust → Ready-rolled shortcrust pastry. Blind-bake exactly the same way.
What should I watch for?
Keep whisking into the corners of the pan or the bottom will catch and the custard will taste scorched.
Any tips from this recipe?
The custard should still wobble in the centre when you cut it. If you want a firmer slice, add another 10 g of cornflour. A biscuit base of 200 g crushed Tennis or digestive biscuits with 80 g melted butter is a common no-bake shortcut.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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