Milk Tart, or Melktert

A milk tart, or "melktert" in Afrikaans, is a sweet, sweet custard pie.  Made with lots of eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar, what's not to like?  This is the last of my South African desserts (at least for awhile), so eat it up!

This treat has all the glory of a delicious pie crust, and all the velvety sweetness of a custard.  And it's delicious warm or cold.  (I served it warm out of the oven, and then I continued to eat it chilled out of the fridge.)  My recipe is adapted from an Epicurious version--a website for which I am ever grateful.

I'm shocked by my own oversight, but I don't think I've featured a Nirvana song on this blog.  As a girl who once baked a birthday cake for Kurt Cobain (I confess!), I've done one of my oldest and best-loved bands a disservice.  Here's Nirvana's "Milk It."

Ingredients:
--1 pie crust, rolled and trimmed (god, don't buy one!  Use my pie crust recipe, found on my pecan pie post)
--2 c. whole milk
--1 cinnamon stick
--4 eggs, separated
--1/3 c. all-purpose flour
--1 tbsp. cornstarch
--1/3 c. granulated sugar
--1/2 tsp. baking powder
--pinch of salt
--2 tbsp. unsalted butter
--1 tbsp. vanilla
--1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
--1 tsp. ground cinnamon (for dusting)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a 10" tart pan, lay pie crust and press into edges.  Poke a number of fork holes in the bottom and bake at 400 degrees F for 7-9 minutes, or until the crust starts to bubble just a little bit.  Remove and allow to cool (but leave the oven on, reducing the heat to 350 degrees F).

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 1 1/2 c. milk and the cinnamon stick over low heat until it just reaches a boil.  Set it aside for 15 minutes and allow the cinnamon to infuse into the milk.

In a large bowl, beat together the 1/2 c. milk that remains, along with the 4 egg yolks (make sure you've separated the eggs!), the cornstarch, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Remove the cinnamon stick from the milk, and whisk in the egg yolk mixture.  Return to the saucepan to a low-medium heat, and cook, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens (about 5-7 minutes).  Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and the butter.

In a separate bowl, beat the 4 egg whites with the cream of tartar until they form stiff peaks, just like this:

The cream of tartar adds volume to the egg whites, just fyi.  Fold the egg whites into the custard, and pour the mixture into the pie crust.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, then reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until the custard has set.  Remove from heat and immediately dust with ground cinnamon.  Serve!