@IDJoel you could well be right, it being a regional or family variation.
Milk Tart (South African version)
- Thread starter Ricksha
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@IDJoel - You're probably right: variants. I think the cream base is the real challenge here, followed closely by the crust, and once those are puzzled out the spice topping can be optionally added at small dosage, either/or/without. I should have FA Milk Condensed in my hands tomorrow, along with some spare time. I'll make a dilution of it, then I may go crazy and mix up 3 or 4 trial fillings with various creams and such.
@G-Fog, your wife's melktert recipe would probably bring tears to my eyes. If you'll scan and post it, I might have it made for my birthday next month! Um, I mean, y'know, for science.
@G-Fog, your wife's melktert recipe would probably bring tears to my eyes. If you'll scan and post it, I might have it made for my birthday next month! Um, I mean, y'know, for science.
@G-Fog I grew up with Milktart being a staple diet (shall I say desert) for us back in South Africa. Its also true that many variations of this desert exist, each favored by those who inherited it from their grandma or great-grandma. My ouma's recipe used a pinch of nutmeg sprinkled with cinnamon. My mom made a killer milktart but used only cinnamon. My ex made it with a little almond spiced over the filling after baked. All were equally good.
I agree with @man00ver that the tricky part if the recipe is to capture the filling and the crust. Once that is nailed one can play with the "dusting" one desires.
I eliminated the cinnamon and hazelnut from my last mix of v1.b as these were throwing my taste buds off. Should be ready to test in a couple of days.
Btw @G-Fog our youngest son lives outside Auckland and I promised to send him a sample. If i can only nail this flavor
, am close but not quite.
I agree with @man00ver that the tricky part if the recipe is to capture the filling and the crust. Once that is nailed one can play with the "dusting" one desires.
I eliminated the cinnamon and hazelnut from my last mix of v1.b as these were throwing my taste buds off. Should be ready to test in a couple of days.
Btw @G-Fog our youngest son lives outside Auckland and I promised to send him a sample. If i can only nail this flavor
, am close but not quite.
I made some dilutions this evening, so now I have 10% solutions in PG for FA Milk Condensed and TFA Holiday Spice. These are some kind of potent, let me tell you. The FA, in particular, smells like universe-level powdered milk, a scent ingrained from childhood (depression-baby parents). Even in solution, it smells absolutely disturbing, so I'll be going very slow with it! While I was at it, I made another dilution for INW Honey, another super-powered flavoring (not planning on using it here).
That's it for the day. More actual mixing tomorrow.
That's it for the day. More actual mixing tomorrow.
@Ricksha interesting, our son lives on the North Shore of Auckland. Small world, hey?
Thanks very much, @G-Fog! I've half a mind to try making the custard myself....
@G-Fog - The custard recipe is cooling now, and will go in the refrigerator shortly. I can tell it's going to be tasty. And I'm already feeling guilty that I didn't cut the recipe by 2/3rds! Safe to say I'll have ample for my tasting experiment.
I do notice there's no vanilla in the recipe. Upon realizing this, I immediately started reorganizing the cream base for the vape in my head, but I researched again and found vanilla featured in most online milktart recipes (one used both vanilla and almond extracts), so it shouldn't be a priority to remove it...especially if I'm aiming for @Ricksha's taste memory.
In other news (@IDJoel as well):
I'm testing my v1 mix today in a low-power clearomizer, 1.5ohm @ 11.3W. The good news is that it has the lightly creamy/milky ambience I envisioned, and a nice light crust, with what I feel is the perfect amount of sweetness. The light spice seems just right as well. On these points, it hits squarely what the milktart-ignorant I was targeting.
Unfortunately, the tiny apple and citrus notes are present. During vaping they're a component of the sweetness of the brown sugar and meringue, and if you didn't know they were in there, you might not recognize them. But when you take several toots and put down the PV, they're pretty clear in the aftertaste on the tongue. It's a delicious vape, BTW, so feel free to mix up this "Ghost Fruit Cream Tart" if you want to check my opinion. I'm going to let it age another week and then put it in a power rig for final judgment.
So I'm concluding that my next mix has to banish FA Apple Pie and Catalan cream. That means the crust for the next mix will have to come from other possibilities: FA Cookie, INW Biscuit, TFA Graham Cracker, and/or TFA Pie Crust (in very low percentage, if any).
So I think my v2 will be an adjustment of my v1 cream base with a new crust, and my v3 will be an adaptation of Shaner's Milk Pudding base with the same new crust. I'll post when I mix them, perhaps later this evening. Have to taste that real tart filling first!
I do notice there's no vanilla in the recipe. Upon realizing this, I immediately started reorganizing the cream base for the vape in my head, but I researched again and found vanilla featured in most online milktart recipes (one used both vanilla and almond extracts), so it shouldn't be a priority to remove it...especially if I'm aiming for @Ricksha's taste memory.
In other news (@IDJoel as well):
I'm testing my v1 mix today in a low-power clearomizer, 1.5ohm @ 11.3W. The good news is that it has the lightly creamy/milky ambience I envisioned, and a nice light crust, with what I feel is the perfect amount of sweetness. The light spice seems just right as well. On these points, it hits squarely what the milktart-ignorant I was targeting.
Unfortunately, the tiny apple and citrus notes are present. During vaping they're a component of the sweetness of the brown sugar and meringue, and if you didn't know they were in there, you might not recognize them. But when you take several toots and put down the PV, they're pretty clear in the aftertaste on the tongue. It's a delicious vape, BTW, so feel free to mix up this "Ghost Fruit Cream Tart" if you want to check my opinion. I'm going to let it age another week and then put it in a power rig for final judgment.
So I'm concluding that my next mix has to banish FA Apple Pie and Catalan cream. That means the crust for the next mix will have to come from other possibilities: FA Cookie, INW Biscuit, TFA Graham Cracker, and/or TFA Pie Crust (in very low percentage, if any).
So I think my v2 will be an adjustment of my v1 cream base with a new crust, and my v3 will be an adaptation of Shaner's Milk Pudding base with the same new crust. I'll post when I mix them, perhaps later this evening. Have to taste that real tart filling first!
Mixed these tonight:
SA Milktart v1.1 - man00ver
0.25% Acetyl Pyrazine 5% (TPA)
1.25% Cookie (Biscotto) (FA)
1.5% Cream Fresh (FA)
0.5% Custard (FA)
1% Dairy Milk (TPA)
0.5% DX Brown Sugar (TPA)
0.5% Meringue (FA)
0.5% Pie Crust (TPA)
0.5% Spicy Biscuit (INAWERA)
3% Vienna Cream (FA)
Flavor total: 9.51%
Removed FA Apple Pie and Catalan cream, boosted Vienna Cream and Cream Fresh in the cream base, boosted INW Spicy Biscuit to supplement spices, added FA Cookie and TFA Pie Crust for crust. And...
SA Milktart v2 - man00ver
0.25% Acetyl Pyrazine 5% (TPA)
0.25% Butterscotch (FA)
0.25% Caramel (FA)
1.25% Cookie (Biscotto) (FA)
1.5% Cream Fresh (FA)
1% Milk Condensed (FA) 1:10 Dilution
0.5% Pie Crust (TPA)
0.5% Spicy Biscuit (INAWERA)
2% Vienna Cream (FA)
Flavor total: 7.51%
Here, I tamped down on the Butterscotch/Caramel team from Shaner's recipe, to see if they'll provide good sweetness that could differ from brown sugar, added in a little FA Vienna Cream, and my new trial crust mix (AP, Cookie, Pie Crust). So we'll see how Milk Condensed can fit into the picture.
@G-Fog - Your wife's recipe is delicious! Now I don't know if there's a difference in strength between her Almond Essence and the Almond Extract we have in the US, but I probably should have left it out, or used a little vanilla instead. What I've got is a delectable, and distinctly almond, thick pudding/light custard. At least it gives me a nice textural impression for this vape formulation!
SA Milktart v1.1 - man00ver
0.25% Acetyl Pyrazine 5% (TPA)
1.25% Cookie (Biscotto) (FA)
1.5% Cream Fresh (FA)
0.5% Custard (FA)
1% Dairy Milk (TPA)
0.5% DX Brown Sugar (TPA)
0.5% Meringue (FA)
0.5% Pie Crust (TPA)
0.5% Spicy Biscuit (INAWERA)
3% Vienna Cream (FA)
Flavor total: 9.51%
Removed FA Apple Pie and Catalan cream, boosted Vienna Cream and Cream Fresh in the cream base, boosted INW Spicy Biscuit to supplement spices, added FA Cookie and TFA Pie Crust for crust. And...
SA Milktart v2 - man00ver
0.25% Acetyl Pyrazine 5% (TPA)
0.25% Butterscotch (FA)
0.25% Caramel (FA)
1.25% Cookie (Biscotto) (FA)
1.5% Cream Fresh (FA)
1% Milk Condensed (FA) 1:10 Dilution
0.5% Pie Crust (TPA)
0.5% Spicy Biscuit (INAWERA)
2% Vienna Cream (FA)
Flavor total: 7.51%
Here, I tamped down on the Butterscotch/Caramel team from Shaner's recipe, to see if they'll provide good sweetness that could differ from brown sugar, added in a little FA Vienna Cream, and my new trial crust mix (AP, Cookie, Pie Crust). So we'll see how Milk Condensed can fit into the picture.
@G-Fog - Your wife's recipe is delicious! Now I don't know if there's a difference in strength between her Almond Essence and the Almond Extract we have in the US, but I probably should have left it out, or used a little vanilla instead. What I've got is a delectable, and distinctly almond, thick pudding/light custard. At least it gives me a nice textural impression for this vape formulation!
Yes, that's the one. It's very good-tasting, and close to my imagined target in many ways, but not *quite* as neutrally milk/cream flavored as I was hoping, in the end. If you have the fixings you should try it out....
I want to mix your V1 up for a test drive @man00ver but want to eliminate the citrus notes right off the bat and continue with a derivative of FA Apple Pie for the crust to see what it does.
Q1: replace Catalan cream (remove citrus) with CAP sweet cream ?
Q2: replace INW Spicy Biscuit (remove the "spicy" part) with either FA Cookie (contains acceptable traces of spicyness for me) or TFA Chessecake Graham Crust (for the graham cracker/Tennis biscuit) part ?
I may have to sub these eliminations with a Custard.
Edit: or TFA Eggnog, which i received today
Thoughts ?
Q1: replace Catalan cream (remove citrus) with CAP sweet cream ?
Q2: replace INW Spicy Biscuit (remove the "spicy" part) with either FA Cookie (contains acceptable traces of spicyness for me) or TFA Chessecake Graham Crust (for the graham cracker/Tennis biscuit) part ?
I may have to sub these eliminations with a Custard.
Edit: or TFA Eggnog, which i received today
Thoughts ?
Last edited:
@man00ver you are probably right, the almond should just be a background hint, certainly not up front and strong. Almost not there, just a complimentary note.
The citrus notes in my v1 recipe come from two places: FA Catalan Cream and FA Custard. I left FA Custard in my v1.1 because I want it to make a condensed milk note with the Meringue and Fresh Cream. It's low, and with the FA Apple Pie gone it's no threat to the flavor. You could try CAP Sweet Cream, which I understand to be pretty rich, and/or TFA CGC, which would be richer yet and provide a little crust...in low-ish percentages either of these might present in a condensed milk sort of way and could cover the role I wanted FA Custard to play.
Just so you know, I avoided those because I didn't want anything richer than FA Vienna Cream in there, to preserve a milkier quality. Plus, I'm biased towards FA cream flavors, I'll admit.
You could try this:
0.25% Acetyl Pyrazine 5% (TPA)
1.00% Apple Pie (FA)
0.75% Cheesecake (Graham Crust) (TPA)
1.50% Cream Fresh (FA)
0.50% Sweet Cream (CAP)
1.00% Dairy Milk (TPA)
0.50% DX Brown Sugar (TPA)
0.50% Meringue (FA)
0.50% Cookie (Biscotto) (FA)
3.00% Vienna Cream (FA)
This eliminates all citrus, and keeps the new rich additions very low. If the crust seems good but the apple still appears somehow, you could re-balance between lower FA Apple Pie and higher FA Cookie, moving a quarter-point at a time. If it's too graham-crusty, you could lower CGC to 0.5% and drop the AP (or just drop the AP). Regardless, I'd expect this to be richer than my v1 or my v1.1. But you know better than us what you're looking for, and it might be close!
It's also worth noting that all real spice is gone here, and I thought the tiny bit of INW Spicy Biscuit did a good light spicing job in my v1. That's why I doubled it in my later versions after dumping the spiced Catalan. But, as we've noted before, we can add spices directly later on, once you like the cream balance and the crust.
I have FA Butterscotch, Condensed Milk, Vienna Cream and INW Biscuit on order. It will be a week or two before I can mix, steep and taste a similar batch to your v1.1 or V2 @man00ver so in the meantime I'm going to give this recipe a bash with TFA Eggnog as an ingredient. After vaping my V1.c derivatives for a few days, I found that the mix is too sweet for my liking. May be the CAP sweet cream , CAP Custard and TFA Brown sugar combo (a suspect at this stage) which I'd like to eliminate.
I studied your formulations and taste notes so far @man00ver and with the some input from @IDJoel I'll mix an interim formula that looks like this:
Milktart v4.a
TFA Dairy Milk - 1%
FA Meringue - 0.5%
FA Apple Pie - 1%
TFA CKGC - 0.5%
FA Cookie - 0.5%
TFA AP (5% dilution) - 0.25%
TFA Sweet Cream - 0.5%
FA Fresh Cream - 1.5%
CAP Van. Custard - 1%
TFA Eggnog - 1.5%
FA Custard - 0.5%
Total flavoring: 8.75%
I left some CAP Custard in there as a booster as I'm unsure how Eggnog will contribute to any custard notes as the FA Custard is kept low. I also hope that @manoover 's Condensed Milk (FA Meringue, Custard and Fresh Cream) will come through. With all the FA flavors, this mixture may need more than 4 days to steep before I try it out. But I'll give it a boost with my new "reciprocating-saw-juice-steep-accelerator-device" on a daily basis.
BTW, while we wait, any of you come across a good Toffee/English toffee flavor ? (both @man00ver and @IDJoel you seem to have a similar sweet tasting tooth like mine)
I studied your formulations and taste notes so far @man00ver and with the some input from @IDJoel I'll mix an interim formula that looks like this:
Milktart v4.a
TFA Dairy Milk - 1%
FA Meringue - 0.5%
FA Apple Pie - 1%
TFA CKGC - 0.5%
FA Cookie - 0.5%
TFA AP (5% dilution) - 0.25%
TFA Sweet Cream - 0.5%
FA Fresh Cream - 1.5%
CAP Van. Custard - 1%
TFA Eggnog - 1.5%
FA Custard - 0.5%
Total flavoring: 8.75%
I left some CAP Custard in there as a booster as I'm unsure how Eggnog will contribute to any custard notes as the FA Custard is kept low. I also hope that @manoover 's Condensed Milk (FA Meringue, Custard and Fresh Cream) will come through. With all the FA flavors, this mixture may need more than 4 days to steep before I try it out. But I'll give it a boost with my new "reciprocating-saw-juice-steep-accelerator-device" on a daily basis.
BTW, while we wait, any of you come across a good Toffee/English toffee flavor ? (both @man00ver and @IDJoel you seem to have a similar sweet tasting tooth like mine)
@Ricksha - That looks like a promising mix. I'm very curious what you'll think of the eggnog addition. The CAP Custard is a good add for a creamy vanilla source. And your reciprocating device may be just the kind of pure magic we need here!
But steeping for at least a week is to be expected with so many different flavors merging.
P.S. I don't know much about toffee flavors. The closest thing in my personal stash is FA Torrone, which I love, but it's an Italian white soft toffee with a nutty citrus note. I'd probably get small bottles of TFA and FW English Toffee to try, if I were in the market.
But steeping for at least a week is to be expected with so many different flavors merging.
P.S. I don't know much about toffee flavors. The closest thing in my personal stash is FA Torrone, which I love, but it's an Italian white soft toffee with a nutty citrus note. I'd probably get small bottles of TFA and FW English Toffee to try, if I were in the market.
Tried them all. TFA's English Toffee used to have this soury stinky smell. FW Toffee was so-so but again too Flavor West-y. Been using LA's Toffee (good tasting, powerful but dark) and sometimes combined with their English Tofee (after clearing the alcohol) for a few years now. The Caramel's out there are good subs. Anyhow, we digress......thx.
I must confess I have no experience with toffees. I picked up a little 6mL sampler of TFA's English Toffee, when the only local brick and mortar shop that offered concentrates was closing its doors for the last time, but have yet to break it out.
Have to share a pic of my reciprocating-steep-accelorator. Secret is using painters tape (leaves no residue). 5 minutes is all it takes. Easy way to discharge those 12v batteries. Theres a redneck in all of us is all I can say.
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