Martjie’s masterful milk tart

Want to bake like a pro? Television celebrity Martjie Malan shares her tips and a favourite recipe.

Makes 2 medium tarts You need

FOR THE PUFF-PASTRY CRUST • 500 g Ladismith butter • 500 g cake flour • 2,5 ml (½ teaspoon) cream of tartar • 5 ml (1 teaspoon) salt • 250 ml (1 cup) ice water

Here’s how

1 Use an electric mixer or a food processor to combine the butter and flour. There should be pea-sized lumps of butter visible in the flour. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the cream of tartar. 2 Dissolve the salt in the water. Make a hole in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour the water into the hole a little at a time. Use a spatula to cut the water into the flour and butter before adding more water. Repeat until you’ve added all the water. The dough should be firm and you should be able to form a ball. 3 Divide the dough in two and cover each piece in cling wrap. Put the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes. 4 Remove the dough from the fridge and use a rolling pin to flatten the two pieces into one rectangle. Fold one third of the rectangle into the middle and then the other third on top. Cover in cling wrap and return the dough to the fridge for another 20 minutes. 5 Put the dough on your work surface with the seam facing up. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough into a rectangle again and fold it like you did in step 4. Repeat this process four times. 6 Refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes. Flatten it again using a rolling pin and line two tart dishes with the dough. 7 Put the tart dishes in the fridge until needed.

FOR THE FILLING • 2 ℓ milk • 50 g Ladismith butter • seeds of 1 vanilla pod • 1 cinnamon stick • 6 eggs, separated • 2 eggs • 300 g sugar • 70 g cake flour • 120 g cornflour • salt • cinnamon sugar (¼ cup castor sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon)

Here’s how

1 Preheat the oven to 260° C. Heat the milk, butter, vanilla seeds and cinnamon sticks to just below boiling point. 2 Cream the egg yolks, the two eggs and sugar until soft and light. Add the flour and salt to the egg mixture and beat well. 3 Remove the cinnamon stick from the milk. Add half a cup of the warm milk to the egg mixture and whisk well. Pour this mixture into the milk and lower the heat. Stir until the filling is thick and lump-free. Simmer slowly for a few minutes then remove from the heat. 4 Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold the egg whites into the filling until just combined – there shouldn’t be any egg-white clouds visible. 5 Pour the filling into the prepared tart dishes and smooth the top. Bake the tarts for 10 minutes at 260° C. Lower the temperature to 200° C and bake for another 10 minutes or until the filling has set. Don’t let the top brown too much – cover the tarts with foil if you’re worried. 6 Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the tarts when they come out of the oven and serve hot or later, at room temperature.