Melktert

Ingredients

• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 250g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1 litre whole milk
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 150g caster sugar, for the filling
• 40g plain flour, for the filling
• 40g cornflour
• 30g butter, for the filling
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, mixed with 1 tbsp caster sugar

Before you cook

• Grease a 24cm loose-bottomed tart tin.
• Sift the 250g of flour with the baking powder and salt.
• Separate the two eggs for the filling into two small bowls.

Steps

1. Beat the softened butter and 125g of caster sugar together until pale and fluffy.
2. Beat in the whole egg, then fold in the sifted flour to make a soft biscuit dough.
3. Press the dough evenly over the base and up the sides of the tart tin with your fingers.
4. Chill the case in the fridge for twenty minutes.
5. Heat the oven to 180C fan-off.
6. Prick the base all over with a fork and bake the case for eighteen to twenty minutes, until dry and lightly golden.
7. Put the milk and the cinnamon stick in a large saucepan and bring it slowly to just below boiling.
8. Take the pan off the heat, fish out the cinnamon stick, and set the milk aside.
9. Whisk the two egg yolks with the 150g of caster sugar, the 40g of flour and the cornflour to a smooth paste.
10. Pour a ladleful of hot milk into the paste while whisking hard, then scrape the whole lot back into the pan.
11. Cook the custard over a medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, for six to eight minutes until it thickens to the consistency of pouring cream.
12. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the 30g of butter and the vanilla.
13. Whisk the two egg whites to soft peaks in a clean bowl.
14. Fold the whites into the warm custard in two additions, which is what gives melktert its light, quivery set.
15. Pour the custard into the baked case and smooth the top.
16. Dust the whole surface generously with the cinnamon sugar while the filling is still hot, so it sticks.
17. Leave the tart to cool to room temperature, then chill it for at least three hours before slicing.