Impossible Tart

Greetings, readers!

Please accept my apologies for not posting anything for a few days.  I so try and keep the blog updated regularly, but the chilly weather here in Cape Town has made way for cold and flu in the Cake Mama household.  Yes, it really does get cold in Africa, as you might have noted if any of you watched Monday’s match at Greenpoint Stadium.  I drove home from my in-laws that night amidst a hailstorm, and was reminded of the mother of all storms we once experienced when we lived in Northen British Columbia, Canada.  The only difference was that in Canada, it was so unbelievably cold outside that all viruses and bacteria carrying illness died (well, that’s my professional scientific opinion) so you couldn’t get sick.  Here, the wind is bone-shiveringly chilly but when you combine that with the strong African sun…well, it’s sick weather. 

I haven’t, however, forgotten my promise to supply you all with yummy South African bakes!  Here’s my next one, named ‘Impossible Tart’.  It should really be called ‘Very Possible and Extremely Easy Pudding’ because it’s laughably easy, and it’s not exactly what I’d call a Tart.  The term ‘tart’ is used very freely in South African cuisine – it basically refers to any kind of pudding that is set when either baked or refrigerated (you’ll meet the refrigerated version when I post up the recipe for ‘Peppermint Tart’, which is so mmmmmm).    Of course, only the English use the term ‘tart’ to describe a particular kind of woman.  I assure you, that I do not make reference to that kind of tart in any of my blog posts.

Finally, please excuse the lack of photos at the moment.  It seems that my little Cake Child has played with my camera’s battery charger and has somewhat misplaced it, bless her cotton socks.  Since I refuse to post up any pictures of recipes that are not my own, I’ll just have to hunt for the battery charger so I can get some more delicious pictures up!

Impossible Tart

Ingredients:

4 eggs

50 ml melted butter

1 cup sugar

¾ cup plain flour

1 heaped tsp baking powder

2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

Pinch salt

1 generous tbsp apricot jam

1 cup desiccated coconut

Method:

-          Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

-          Mix all ingredients together and beat until well combined (by hand or with an electric mixer)

-          Pour into a dish which has already been greased with butter.

-          Bake for about 40 minutes (time varies according to your oven) until the top of the pudding is golden brown.  It should not be completely firm like cake, but it should not wobble when moved!

-          There’s only one way to serve this pudding, and that’s with some warm custard.  Enjoy while watching your favourite programme, or getting stuck into a great book.

Welcome to South Africa, world! Milk Tart recipe

Wooooo hooo!!!  The Fifa World Cup has come to South Africa!  The atmosphere's electric!  People are going crazy!  The traffic going into town is completey choc-a-bloc!  There's so much noise!  Yippee!

Alright, alright.  I'll settle down.  In fact, for those of you reading this that know me personally, you're probably confused already (that's if you didn't pick up the note of sarcasm).  I'm not remotely interested in football.  I was the weird girl in school because I didn't support a team like everyone else, and I once got chastised badly for pretending to support Turkey in a previous world cup match against England, in a very English high school.  Sorry, I'm just not very patriotic when it comes to sport (if ever).  I have dual nationality (British and South African) and I have nothing against either country, nothing at all.  I think that every country has it's beauty and charm.  I just fail to get excited about a bunch of highly overpaid men kicking a ball around trying to get it into a net.  I have no problem if you want to play the game to keep fit etc, but I can't really understand why people obsess over watching it.  All the time.

Take South Africa, for example. A country that straddles the 1st and 3rd world border,quite significantly.  On the weekends, my husband and I (along with his brothers and sister in law who totally run the project) go to a township in Cape Town called Delft. Here, only a mere 15 minutes drive from the safe and comfortable leafy suburb in which I live, is a vast area where people live in poor excuses for houses.  We're talking corrugated iron roofs, thin board-like walls, and in the area called Blikkiesdorp (small tin town) people live in so-called residences that resemble what you and I call a porto-cabin.  A mobile toilet, except, it's supposed to be a house.  They share a toilet with 5 other 'houses'.  The area's infested with crime.  Children can't go to school because it's become risky to walk. Most people have no other means of transport, meaning that unemployment is also rife.  How is this World Cup benefiting those people, and countless others?

Anyway, I'm digressing.  The football tournament is here now, and even if I'm not interested in the sport, I can still be a good host and welcome our foreign visitors into this beautiful land.  Welcome, visitors!  Enjoy your stay in South Africa.  Enjoy soaking up our gloriously diverse culture and eating our unrivalled sumptuous cuisine.  And here's my little offering - for the next few weeks, during the World Cup, I propose to 'pepper' my blog with what I'll call South Africa's Best Bakes (although some may not be bakes at all, as we're rather good at fridge desserts and deep fried things as well).  I'm kicking off now (haha-the irony) with Milk Tart (Melktert).  I think the first time I can remember having this was when my sister-in-law Ziemie made it for us when she was just a newlywed.  I thought it was fabulous then, and I have a soft spot for it because my Dad loves custard tarts, and this is pretty much the same thing.

This recipe has been slightly adapted from the original recipe in the Capetonian housewife's bible, Boeka Treats.


Ingredients:

Base:
125g butter
125ml (1/2 cup) caster sugar
1 small egg (or 1/2 large egg)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
250ml (1 cup) self raising flour
250ml (1 cup) plain flour

Filling:
400g (1 tin) condensed milk
1tsp vanilla essence
Pinch salt
9 eggs (yes, 9)
3 1/2 cups boiling water
3-4 pieces stick cinnamon
3-4 pieces crushed cardamom
30 ml (2 tbsp) butter

Method:

Biscuit base:
- Cream the butter and sugar.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix.
- Sift in the flour to form a firm dough.

Filling:
- Line a pyrex dish (25x35cm) with the biscuit base dough, breaking off peices of dough and pressing it onto the the base and sides of the dish.  Refrigerate.
- Pour condensed milk into a bowl, add the boiling water, butter, cinnamon and cardamom. Add vanilla and salt.
- Allow to cool.
- Beat the eggs and add to the cooled off mixture. Mix well.
- Take out the lined dish from the fridge.  Strain the egg-milk mixture into the lined dish.  Sprinkle the top with a little ground cinnamon.
- Bake at 180 degrees until it's set (about 45 mins).

Enjoy!

The cupcake

What would a baker's blog be without mentioning classic cupcake?

In recent years, the humble cupcake has taken over the culinary world, evolving from being a kids birthday party staple, to getting a glamorous makeover in the form of stylish wedding cakes, cute baby shower favours, romantic treats and show-stopping centrepieces.  The reason for this revolution, in my opinion, is because a) they're super-cheap to make 2) they're far easier to decorate then big cakes 3) they look super-effective when piled up together 4) less waste - you want a piece of cake, have a cupcake to yourself instead to butchering a beautiful big cake and worrying about it drying out afterwards 5) they appeal to kids and adults alike

But to create such works of art, we need to start with the basics.  Here's a super easy, tried and tested cupcake recipe.  After trying many recipes (since I make a lot of cupcakes) this works the best, especially when baking in bulk.  I love it because it's a one-bowl recipe.  If you're lucky enough to own a stand-alone mixer such as a Kenwood or a Kitchen Aid, take it out, plop the ingredients in and get on with something else.

Some tips (and then I promise to stop babbling and get to the recipe)  use the best ingredients that your budget allows.  It makes a huge difference.  For example, use real butter instead of margarine.  Use vanilla extract if you can, the one that's thicker than the essence where you can see the beautiful tiny vanilla beans.  Make sure your eggs are fresh, as well as your milk!  These little checks will even make a simple cupcake more 'wow'.

Baking for my baby shower with my neice Aliyah, in chef's garb.

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter, softened*

250g caster sugar**

250g self raising flour

pinch salt

4 eggs

4 tablespoons milk

2 tsp vanilla essence, or 1 tsp vanilla extract

2 x 12 hole muffin tins, lined with paper cases

* If you can't find unsalted butter, or if you just want to use up your normal butter in the fridge, that fine, just omit the pinch of salt.

** I only say caster sugar because it's dissolves that much faster than ordinary granulated sugar.  It really does make a difference.  If you can't be bothered to make a special trip to the shops to buy the stuff, use ordinary granulated sugar but take care to beat it with the butter well so that it all dissolves.  Or you can blitz it in a food processor to make it more fine.

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees.

Soften your butter slightly by beating it in a bowl, either manually or with your mixer on a slow speed.

Add sugar, beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides so all sugar granules are incorporated and dissolved (this ensures a smooth and soft top to the finished product, instead of the dreaded hard crust)

Add the eggs, then gradually add the flour, and pour the milk in gradually to to make a smooth, but not runny, dropping consistency.

Spoon the mixture into the cases, leaving each paper case about 3/4 full.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.  Note that each oven is different, so get to know your own oven.  If you're unsure how fast or slow your oven bakes, keep an eye on your cupcakes.  Crucially, don't open your oven door until they are about 70 per cent baked (as a guideline the tops should be looking more firm and not looking like batter).  If you're baking them on different shelves, this is the time to quickly whip them out and swap shelves so both batches are baked evenly.  Please don't burn your hands, as I have done many, many times.

They should be golden brown when they're ready to be taken out.  Poke it lightly with the flat of your finger.  If it springs up without leaving an indentation, it's done.  If not, bake it a little longer, and maybe turn your heat down.

Take them out and smile with pride before deciding how to decorate your blank canvas!

 Aliyah displays our handiwork.

Note:  for chocolate cupcakes, omit 2 tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 tablespoons of cocoa.  Don't omit the vanilla essence, but you can also add a tsp of chocolate essence with it to make the flavour richer.  I also favour a teaspoon of good quality instant coffee dissolved in a few drops of hot water added to my chocolate cupcake batter, but that's up to you.