South African Melktert (Milk Tart) with Almond Milk

For the quick flaky pastry:

Start by sifting the flour, salt and cream of tartar together in a large bowl. Add the butter and start by cutting it into the flour with a pastry cutter. Then, with your fingertips rub the butter into the flour so it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Using a dinner knife, cut the iced water into the dough and continue cutting until the dough forms together. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

When ready, roll the pastry out into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Fold it into an envelope shape with the open sides facing you and roll it out again. Do this twice more. The final time, roll out to about 1/2 cm thickness.

Pull out two large (10.5″ or 11″) or three smaller (8.5″ or 9″) pie dishes. Place pie dishes face down on the dough, measure 1/2 cm around the edge of the pie dishes and cut out the pastry (I used a pizza cutter to cut it). Line the two large or three smaller pie dishes with the pastry. Place the pastry-lined pie dishes in the fridge until they are ready to be used. Any leftovers will freeze well.

For the filling:

Start by preheating the oven to 400 F. Bring the 6 1/2 cups of almond milk to a boil in a saucepan on the stovetop, stirring continuously. Then add the butter, salt and cinnamon stick to the milk.

Mix together the custard powder, cornstarch and flour and add the 4 tablespoons of cold almond milk a little at a time to form a paste. Next add some of the boiling milk mixture into the paste and mix well. Then add the paste into the boiling almond milk on the stovetop. Add half a cup of the sugar to the mixture and stir well, allowing the milk to return to the boil. Stir continuously and when it starts to thicken (it’ll start to leave a ‘film’ on the sides of the pot), remove from the stovetop. Discard the cinnamon stick.

Beat the egg whites in a bowl until stiff peak stage, gradually adding the rest of the sugar (1/2 cup) as you go. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks. Then add some of the hot almond milk mixture to the egg yolks to warm it up. Then add the egg yolks into the hot milk mixture, stirring rapidly. Next, add the almond extract. Lastly, add the egg whites into the hot milk mixture. Fold egg whites in until well-incorporated.

Pour the filling into the pie cases and bake at 400 F for 15 minutes. Then lower the heat to 350 F and bake for 20 minutes more. The center of the pie will be a bit ‘wobbly’ but it will set upon cooling. Once cool, sprinkle with cinnamon and chill before serving.