Hayley Sutherland, a chef lecturer at Capsicum Culinary Studio, loves all things sweet.
She recently spoke about her perfect Heritage Day menu and shared some recipes for delicious milk tart macarons and plain vetkoek.
How will you be spending Heritage Day?
With my family, and of course we will be having a traditional braai!
What does the day mean to you?
Celebrating how culturally diverse our beautiful country is and the unique culture of my family.
What would be your perfect Heritage Day meal, why and who would you share it with?
A traditional braai with chops and wors. There would be various salad options – potato salad, coleslaw, mixed salad and braai broodjies. Not forgetting dessert which would definitely be a peppermint fridge tart.
What are your favourite three South African dishes and why?
Peppermint fridge tart – I am a pastry chef, but you cannot beat it, especially the next day.
Milk tart – So simple yet so satisfying.
Pumpkin fritters – My mother-in-law makes these and honestly – with cinnamon sugar – they are the best thing.
Sutherland shares one of her favourite Heritage Day recipes which incorporates an old favourite – milk tart – with a modern twist. It is taken from the Capsicum Culinary Studio recipe book.
Milk Tart Macarons
Milk tart filling:
250ml milk
60g egg yolks
63g sugar
25g cornflour
2 cinnamon sticks
Method:
- Heat the milk and cinnamon until boiling point
- Mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour until smooth
- Temper the hot milk onto the yolk mixture
- Return to the heat and allow the mixture to boil, continuously stirring
- Remove from the heat, strain (remove cinnamon sticks)
- Place in a bowl, with plastic wrap on the surface and allow to cool in the fridge
Macarons:
135g caster sugar
80g ground almonds
60g egg white
Method:
- Place the caster sugar and egg white in a bowl over a double boiler and cook it to liquid form (70°C).
- Remove from the heat and beat on high speed until medium peak.
- On a low speed beat in the ground almonds, colour until combined
- Pipe onto the silpat and bake for 7-10 minutes (depending how large they have been piped)
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before taking them off the silpat or they with split in half.
- Fill and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week
NOTE: Do not flavour the macaron mixture, it will flop
To assemble: Spoon some of the cold milk tart filling onto a macaron and top with another.
Vetkoek
(Yields 4)
Ingredients
125ml cake flour
2.5ml baking powder
pinch salt
¼ egg
62.5ml milk
Oil for frying
Method
- Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.
- Whisk egg and add with milk, to dry ingredients. Mix to a soft dough.
- Heat enough oil to cover base of frying pan.
- Pour spoons full of batter into the hot oil and fry to a golden brown on both sides.
- Drain on paper towels.
For more information on Capsicum Culinary Studios, visit www.capsicumcooking.com
