Melktert from South Africa

Melktert or Milk Tart is another South African classic.  When friends give you an hour or two's notice that they are popping around for coffee, there is nothing stopping you from quickly making this melktert and serving it warm when the coffee has finished percolating in the kitchen.  No South African tea or coffee party is complete without a melktert.  The traditional melktert has a crust of puff pastry, but as this is a spur of the moment type recipe, this is for a crustless melktert.

3 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs separated
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence
3 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.  Grease a pie dish.  Beat the egg whites until stiff and frothy and put to one side.  Now in another bowl mix together the melted butter, egg yolks and sugar.  Add in the flour, salt and baking powder and mix thoroughly.  Stir in the milk and vanilla essence and make sure that you get rid of any lumps.  Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites and pour the mixture into the greased pie dish that's ready and waiting.  Sprinkle the cinnamon on the top.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until the middle is firm to the touch.  Can be served cold or warm.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv, Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, Not Telling and Defective.  All her books are available from Amazon in both print and Kindle format.  http://cindyvine.com