Whiskey Milk Tart

By Chef Thobeka Shangase

“My…. affair with whiskey and custard may be the reason why I am still single.”

I love milk tart, I can’t possibility think of one bad thing to say about milk tart, its rich custard on a buttery crisp pastry, and it’s delicious.

 Milk Tart is one of those proudly South African dishes, we grew up around, (well I did), and growing up in the suburbs, there was a milk tart sold at every corner store on every street. Biting into a slice of milk tart is heaven enough to make you feel like nothing like this exists anywhere else in the world.

While researching this piece I found out that there are many versions of a milk tart around the world, the version of the milk tart that we know in South African is based on and old Dutch pastry, but it’s changed and morphed into what we call milk tart today. But in places such as Portugal they have the custard pie which is basically milk tartlets on puff pastry.

Traditional South African milk tart is made with short crust pastry and filled with what i believe to be a version of French creme pat. In some parts of the world they know milk tart as a custard tart, it’s made the same way as we do it here but it’s called a slightly different name. Not everyone is smart enough to serve a milk tart with cinnamon, which is unfortunate because the cinnamon plays such a vital part in the whole scene.

That dusting of cinnamon on top isn’t visually appealing, there’s something about the colour brown that makes all think of poo, but none the less that dusting of cinnamon adds a sense of drama and danger, it’s the last ingredient that takes it all over the edge and makes milk tart what it is. Without that dusting of cinnamon milk tart would be boring and bland. It’s creamy, custardy-custard, with a bite of spice from the cinnamon.

Being the trouble maker I am, I can’t leave well enough alone and I started to think of ways of how to make milk tart better so I put whiskey in it.I later realised that whiskey being so strong it needs a high fat content to balance it out and so initially i thought of a crème pat, the whisky could really cut well through the richness but then later changed my mind and decided on milk tart instead.

How did I come up with the idea of putting whiskey into milk tart you ask, well I wish I had an elegant story that goes like …. (While at a whiskey tasting the whiskey merchant was describing the notes of a particular Scottish whiskey which had notes of vanilla and cinnamon, of course being a pastry chef, my first thought was custard) No. 

I first got the idea when I was grocery shopping at Pick n Pay I happened to look down at my shopping trolley and sitting at the top of the trolley, side by side were my two favourite things in the world a bottle of Jameson Select Reserve Whiskey and a ready-made family size milk tart, yes, whiskey is on my grocery list, its right next to the milk and cheese.  Whiskey and custard could be what defines me as a woman and a Chef. (Side bar: my gluttonous and impassioned affair with whiskey and custard may be the reason why I am still single. It’s something to think about.)  

Whiskey Milk Tart

1 pack puff pastry

500ml milk full cream

75ml sugar

150ml flour

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

1ml salt

25ml butter

5ml vanilla essence

30ml whiskey

5ml zest of orange (optional)

Ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180◦.

Grease a 23cm round pie dish.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and gently press into the pie dish using the back of your hand only to ensure no tearing.

In a heavy based pot heat the milk and sugar over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

In a separate bowl add in the flour, slowly start adding in the hot milk, a little at a time and whisk.  Add in just enough hot milk to make a smooth paste, add the paste into the pot and whisk in well.

 Remove the pot from the heat. In a separate bowl add in the egg yolks and whisk well, start adding a little of the hot milk into the egg yolks and whisk until the egg yolks are the same temperature as milk, be careful to not scramble the eggs. Add the egg yolks into the warm milk add in some salt and zest (if using it). Place the pot back on the heat and allow the custard to come to a gentle boil while stirring. Boil until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove the pot from the heat.

Add in the butter and vanilla essence. Whisk in well, and then add in the whiskey.

 Leave the custard to cool slightly so to not cook the egg whites. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks and fold into the cooled custard filling. Pass the custard through a sieve first to ensure a smooth filling and pour custard into pie dish. Lightly dust with ground cinnamon and bake for 30 minutes.

Leave tart to cool completely before placing it into the fridge, I like my milk tart served cold so I keep it in the top shelf of the fridge for 2 hours. If not serve it at room temperature.