Celebrate Milk Tart Day with a lavish twist

Treat yourself to a big slice of this iconic South African dessert with a fresh and luxurious twist

It’s National Milk Tart day, so why not celebrate this South African culinary treasure with a luxurious twist?

A quintessential South African dish, the milk tart needs no introduction. Whether your’re team baked or unbaked, this classic dessert, with its familiar sweet crust and creamy custard filling, is a firm favourite in SA.

We are all for innovating and mixing things up and foodie Elmarie Berry has created a pretty and luxurious version, that can be enjoyed with a glorious red wine. We recommend pairing it with Roodeberg’s top tier red blend, Dr Charles Niehaus 2017. A super-premium Roodeberg that has evolved into an impressive Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon driven blend—since its maiden vintage in 2010.

Elmarie’s Milk Tart Layer Cake is a lavish stack of separately baked tiers filled and layered with thick custard and does not require expert baking skills. All that it needs are a few layers of easy to make sponge cake, thick and creamy custard for the filling, and just the right dose of cinnamon flavour.

Milk Tart Layer Cake

Makes one cake

Ingredients

Filling:

1 litre milk

Extra ½ cup milk

1 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cake:

4 eggs

1 ½ cup sugar

½ cup milk

½ cup water

100ml oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups cake flour

10ml baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Extra cinnamon to sprinkle between layers

Method

Filling:

Heat the litre of milk, butter and sugar in the microwave for 3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Mix the eggs and flour with the extra ½ cup of milk. Add the mixture to the boiling milk. Put back in the microwave for 1 minute and give it a stir with a whisk. Repeat this step 4-5 times until the mixture is thick. Add the vanilla. Cover with cling wrap and let it cool.

Cake:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Prepare 2 x 20cm cake tins by greasing them and lining them with baking paper. Beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Heat the oil, water and milk until boiling. Add the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon together. Fold the dry ingredients into the fluffy egg mixture. Add the hot milk, fold in until it forms a silky-smooth mixture. Divide the mixture between the 2 cake tins. Bake for 30 minutes. Let them cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tins.

Divide each layer into two. Fill each layer with the custard and sprinkle cinnamon between the layers.