Dear eSTEEMed humans of the interwebs, happy friday!
First things first, thank you so much to @chefsteve , @pandamama and @offoodandart from the @cookwithus team for hosting this awesome weekly competition. If any of you foodies are stuck for inspiration, this is the place to go: A weekly theme to get the creative juices flowing and a community of amazing cooks offering support and helpful tips. I've said it before, it's the friendliest competition on earth!
Secondly, thanks so much for taking my suggestion for a recipe from your home country! What an honour!
Now, to business: I've had the crisp crackle of brûlée topping the silkiest custard locked and loaded for this week's indulgence theme, but i can't pass up the opportunity to showcase a South African recipe!
So I figured, since my first name is Cheré, I can keep the brûlée to celebrate my French heritage and combine it with my ultimate South African indulgence, but more on that later...
First, a little backstory.
South Africa has had a rocky history, but we've grown into a melting pot of cultures and languages (11 official languages, and it still doesn't nearly represent all the cultures who call Mzanzi home!) As a result, our 'cuisine' has countless different origins and the mish-mash of dishes as easily grace road-side stalls as high-end restaurants. From sticky, gelatinous 'Walkie Talkies' (chicken heads and feet) that really walk the talk, to warm aromatic Bunny Chows stuffed with real Durban Curry (our resident Durbanite @lizelle can back me up here) , we have something to suit every palate and level of adventure.
The point is, We're blessed to have an array of wonderful, world-class ingredients at our disposal, and while we can easily whip up filet mignon, drizzle lemon and tabasco over plump wild oysters harvested from our waters or even have a go at making sushi, what makes South African cuisine amazing is that we can extract incredible flavour from the cheapest ingredients, and proudly call them our own.
While I can harp on about your modest-in-price but rich-in-flavour cuisine for ages, I'd rather nibble on a chunk of moist Biltong and tell you about this dish.
While cookies and ice-cream are my go to snacks, my ultimate indulgence and feel-good food has always been custard. Not to brag, but we have this canary yellow stuff in a box called Ultramel and it rivals the work of any French pâtissier.
I always refer to its incredible silkiness when making custards of my own, and while mine isn't bright yellow- I think the texture is as close as it gets.
It also takes only minutes to whip up without the finickiness of a Bain-Marie or temperamental oven temperatures.
Incidentally, it's also the base I use for a South African favourite: Milk Tart.
Traditionally, the tart is a simple custard filling in a crisp tart shell, liberally sprinkled with ground cinnamon.
It uses humble ingredients found in everyone's pantry, and has been a staple for meets with grannies or visits from the pastor for generations.
Being a custard-based tart, I figured I could combine this South African classic with the pièce de résistance of a crème brûlée: The brilliantly bitter, brittle brûlée ( Try saying that 3 times fast!)
And folks, it worked!
Without further ado, the recipe:
##Ingredients:
Makes 1 large or 6 individual Brûlée MilkTarts
###Biscuit Base:
( While I'd usually make a shortbread crust, the texture competes with the Brûlée, so I opted for the crumblier, and much less labour intensive, crushed biscuit crust. )
- 300 grams biscuits of choice. (Ginger is amazing for winter, but I used coconut to hold on to the last days of summer.)
- 100 grams Salted Butter, melted
Method:
- Pulse biscuits or crush in a Ziplock baggie with a rolling pin.
- Stir in melted butter and press gently into greased spring form cake pan/or pans
- Place in fridge to set while making custard
Custard Filling.
- 700ml/ 3 Cups Full-Cream Milk
- 200 ml/1 Cup Whipping Cream
- 1 Tbsp Salted Butter
- 2 Whole Eggs and 1 yolk
- 2 Tbsp Corn Starch
- 3 Tbsp Plain Flour
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract (or 2 Tsp Moirs Vanilla Essence for authenticity- South Africans only got the real stuff a few years ago)
###Toppings:
- 150 Grams Castor Sugar
- 6 Tsps Ground Cinnamon
####Method:
- Whisk eggs, sugar, corn starch and flour until frothy
- Heat milk and cream in a heavy-based pot until just simmering
- Add milk mixture into the egg mix a ladle at a time and whisk thoroughly to temper the eggs and keep them from scrambling.
- Once all the milk is added to the egg mixture, return to the pot and stir over low heat until thickened to the texture of soft-whipped cream.
- Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla until smooth and glossy.
- Pour onto biscuit base (or bases) and tap the cake pans gently to even out the custard.
- Cover with clingfilm and leave to cool at room temperature before placing in the fridge to set. (This takes about an hour, but can be left overnight.) * This is the one time you want a skin to form, it helps protect the custard from scrambling under the blowtorch, so try not to let the clingfilm touch the custard.
- Remove from spring form pans and sprinkle with castor sugar evenly, making sure no custard is peeking out.
- Blowtorch sugar in small circles until bubbly and brown, or heat oven broiler to hottest setting before placing tart/s on the highest shelf to broil. Keep a close eye if using this method, it burns more quickly than you think!
- Finally, once sugar topping is cooled, sprinkle with cinnamon and, if so moved, decorate with grapes- an homage to the beautiful wine country I call home, and fresh plump figs- because they're delicious.
Now crack that sugar topping and serve with strong black coffee and good company.