My husband is South African and when I married him, I married his family and his history too.  One of the things I’ve enjoyed is the different recipes I’ve gained from his mom.  I tried one of the family favorites today; Melktert, or Milk Tart, is a custard pie. Often this is made with a regular pie crust, but this recipe from my mother-in-law is a “crustless” pie–it creates its own crust as it bakes. I love pie crust, and I make a pretty good pie crust if I do say so myself, but a pie that makes its own crust–thereby removing one time-consuming step?  I’m in.

Carol’s Crustless Melktert

2 Eggs separated

1 Tbs butter (melted)

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C flour

1/2 Tbs baking powder

2 C milk

1 tsp vanilla

pinch salt

cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Separate eggs. In a small bowl beat egg-whites until stiff. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg yolks with melted butter and sugar. In a separate bowl combine flour and baking powder. Mix with egg yolk mixture. Add milk, vanilla and salt and beat well. Add stiffly beaten egg whites and beat well. Pour into greased pie pan and back for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Hint: this recipe doubles well. There’s a good reason for that. One is never enough!