With the lightly sweetened taste of cornflakes and brown sugar and a silky smooth custard filling, this Cereal Milk Tart is an ultimate nostalgia treat. An egg based custard is baked into a sweet crispy pastry for a smooth and creamy bite. Top with an Italian meringue, or a dollop of marshmallow fluff, for an extra hit of sweetness if desired.
I wanted to take a moment to just check in with everyone. How are you doing? It’s been a bit of a rough week on my end. See, I have this talent of not recognizing or acknowledging stress for a very long period of time, so I repress it. Of course, this eventually leads to a buildup that manifests itself into a response that essentially cannot be controlled. That’s why this week was all about returning to a simpler time–to a place that makes me a bit happier. This Cereal Milk Tart is all about comfort and nostalgia.
Inspired by Momofuku Milk Bar which sells cereal milk, cereal milk ice cream, and cornflake and marshmallow cookies, this tart begins with soaking lightly toasted cornflakes in milk until they get nice and soggy–exactly how you don’t want them to go if enjoying a bowl of cereal. Strain the milk from the cereal and finish it off by whisking in some salt and brown sugar.
You then par-bake the tart crust and whisk up the custard filling, straining it through a sieve in case adding the warm milk caused any of the eggs to cook. I highly recommend pouring the custard into the crust directly in the oven. The filling reaches to the top of the pastry and pouring it in while in the oven leaves less of a chance of accidentally spilling the custard filling over the edges of the tart.
I took a slow and low approach to baking this tart. You don’t want to bake it at too high of a heat and risk the chance of the filling turning into scrambled egg rather than baking up with the smooth texture it’s meant to have. I once made a terrible mistake of improperly baking a tarte au citron vert (though that could have also been my attempt at adding tequila to the mix when it wasn’t a part of the original recipe), and my poor friends had to eat what was basically margarita flavored scrambled eggs in a pastry case (they’re troopers, and I need to apologize for that terrible bake). Cooking it slow gives this tart a silky smooth custard filling. Remove it from the oven while the center is still a bit wobbly–it will continue to cook as it cools.
Using Milk Bar’s cornflake cookie as inspiration, I added an Italian meringue onto my tart to give it a bit of that extra marshmallow sweetness. If you don’t want to go this route, you are free to skip it or to sub it in with some marshmallow spread. If desired, garnish with some chocolate chips as well. But if you want to keep it simple, go for it. The cornflake flavor will shine all on its own.
| Prep Time | 45 minutes |
| Cook Time | 90-95 minutes |
| Passive Time | 1 hour |
| Servings |
slices
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- 2 2/3 cup cornflakes (100 grams)
- 3 1/2 cups cold milk (825 mL)
- 2 Tbsp light brown sugar tightly packed, (30 grams)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter cold and cubed (113 grams)
- 2 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar (45 grams)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg large, beaten
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (180 grams)
- egg white wash 1 egg white + 1 Tbsp water, whisked
- 2 cup Cereal Milk (450 mL)
- 2 eggs large
- 3 egg yolks large
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Ingredients
Cereal Milk*
Pâté Sucrée
Cereal Milk Tart
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- Preheat the oven to 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the cornflakes on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, until lightly toasted.
- Transfer the cooled cornflakes to a large bowl or pitcher. Add in the cold milk and stir to completely cover all the cereal. Steep for 20 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Use a wooden spoon to squeeze out any milk from the soaked cornflakes. Whisk in the brown sugar and 1/4 tsp salt until fully dissolved. Transfer to a pitcher or a clean container and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week if making ahead of time.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes on medium speed. Add in the salt and vanilla extract, beat until combined. Mix in the beaten egg until everything comes together, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in 1/2 of the flour and mix on low until the mixture begins to pull together. Add in the other 1/2 of the flour and mix on low until just almost combined. Remove the bowl from the stand and continue to incorporate the flour with a rubber spatula or with a clean hand. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball. Place on a piece of plastic wrap and flatten the ball into a disc about 1 inch high. Wrap tightly. Using a rolling pin, gently press on the dough to seal it tighter in the plastic wrap. Allow to chill 1 hour to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place a large baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven to heat up. Lightly grease a 9 inch tart pan and set aside. Remove the dough from the fridge. If you let it chill overnight, you might need to let it sit for about 10-15 minutes before rolling. If you start to roll and see that the edges begin to crack, allow the dough to sit for an extra 5-10 minutes to warm up a bit.
- Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll out your dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. It should be larger than the tart pan. Gently roll the dough over the rolling pin and place into the prepared tart pan. Gently press the pastry into the pan, you should have some overhang. Using a fork, dock the bottom of the pastry. Trim the pastry with a sharp knife or by using rolling pin over the top of the tart pan. Place in the freezer and allow to chill for 10 minutes.
- Remove the chilled pastry from the freezer. Line with a piece of parchment paper and fill with pie weights, dry beans, or dry rice to weight the pastry down. Place the tart pan on the warm baking sheet and bake on the lower rack for 20 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and take out the parchment paper and the weights/beans/rice. Brush with the egg white wash to help protect from the moisture of the custard filling. Return the crust to the middle rack of the oven and allow to bake for another 5-10 minutes. If your custard is already ready to pour, leave the shell in the oven.
- Lower the oven to 300°F.
- In a medium saucepan, heat up 2 cups (450 mL) of the prepared cereal milk along with the salt and vanilla until it just begins to simmer.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar until just combined. You don't want to add too much air into the mix. Gently whisk in the salt and vanilla extract.
- When the milk begins to simmer, remove from the heat and pour a small amount into the egg and sugar mix, whisking to keep the eggs from cooking. Slowly add in the rest of the milk, a little at a time, whisking to combine with each combination.
- Strain the mixture through a fine meshed sieve in case any bits of egg cooked while adding the milk. Transfer the strained custard into a large liquid measuring cup or a cup with a lip. Use a spoon to skim off any bubbles or foam from the top.
- If you removed your par-baked tart shell from the oven, return it to the middle rack (still on the baking sheet). Pour the custard directly into the tart--it will fill up to the top of the tart pan which makes it easy to spill if transferring from a work surface to the oven. Bake for 65-75 minutes, until the edges are firm and the center still has a little bit of wobble (I start checking around 40 minutes).
- Remove the tart from the oven and cool until the center finishes cooking before slicing or wrapping in plastic wrap and chilling. Top with Italian Meringue** if desired.
*Cereal Milk recipe from Milk Bar
**Italian Meringue