This South African cocktail is a creamy, comforting delicacy made with vodka, condensed and evaporated milk, and cinnamon. It's so easy to prepare, and you'll be sipping on it in just minutes.
Also known as melktertjies, melktert shooters, or milk tart liqueur, it has the same cozy aroma as the famous South African milk tart dessert but with an exciting kick. It's the perfect stand-in for eggnog if you're not a fan of it, like me.
A single sip will convert you into a melktertjies enthusiast for life - no one can resist the temptation of this delicious cocktail. Booze and milk tart, what's not to love?
📃 Why it Works
- It's quick and easy to make - ready in 5 minutes with just four simple ingredients.
- Liqueurs make the perfect holiday hostess gift.
- This modern South African drink is suitable for serving in a cocktail glass (for sipping) or in shooters, shot glasses, and jiggers.
Commercial milk tart shooter mixes are available in South African liquor stores, but you can make a better, custom mix to your taste with this recipe.
It also works out significantly cheaper, which means more melktertjie for more people.
🛒 Ingredients and Notes
🥃 Alcohol
Vodka - Cheap vodka is fine, but if you want the best vodka for cocktails, here are the top four:
- Smirnoff
- Absolut
- Russian Standard
- Grey Goose
I made mine with Svedka (Swedish) vodka, and it was just as delicious.
🥛 Milk
This recipe calls for a can of each sweetened condensed and evaporated milk. If your cocktail turns out too strong for your taste, add some heavy cream to avoid losing its creaminess.
🔪 How to Make Milk Tart Cocktail
- Blend vodka, condensed milk, and evaporated milk using a whisk, food processor, or pour into an appropriate-sized bottle and shake well.
- Transfer to clean bottles and keep refrigerated. Before serving, sprinkle each melktertjie cocktail with ground cinnamon.
👩🍳 Helpful Tips
- A little strong? No problem, reduce the vodka to whatever you feel comfortable with. There aren't any rules on ingredient amounts!
- To get the right flavor, always keep the bottle in the fridge. Shake well before pouring into a cocktail, shooter, or shot glass.
- Try using condensed coconut milk for an extra flavor note.
- If you're planning ahead, infuse a bottle of vodka with a couple of cinnamon sticks and a vanilla pod for a few days. Use leftovers to spice up your favorite desserts or serve it as an aperitif before dinner.
- To serve, lightly dip rims in honey or corn syrup then into cinnamon sugar. You can skip this step and simply sprinkle some ground cinnamon on top instead.
👉 Variations
- Want to serve it to kids as a virgin milk tart cocktail? No worries! You can make that same delicious treat using the same ingredients without the vodka. Or adjust how much alcohol you want in your drink by adding more or less if necessary for taste preference.
- For extra flavor, replace condensed milk with condensed coconut milk.
- Make it vegan. Use both coconut condensed and coconut evaporated milk instead of regular if you're keeping a plant-based diet.
- Sprinkle with some cookie crumbs, such as SA Baker's tennis biscuits or digestive cookies, or use graham cracker crumbs.
🍽 How To Serve It
- You can enjoy this sweet, yummy, indulgent adult beverage similar to you would Bailey's or Kahlua's. It's perfect on the rocks (with ice cubes) on hot summer evenings.
- Try adding a drum or two to a shot of espresso. Super yummy!
- For a super fun treat, pour them into small (shooter-size) ice cream cones, perfect for girls' night in. But first, add some melted chocolate to the bottom of the cones and let it solidify in order to seal them. You wouldn't want your precious booze leaking out, would you?
- After dinner, you can have both dessert and a liqueur in one. This milk tart cocktail has your back!
🗄️ Storage Instructions
Refrigerate: milk tart shooter can be stored bottled in the fridge for 5 to 7 days.
Freeze: alcohol doesn't freeze, so it's safe to keep the bottled cocktail in the freezer for up to 3 months.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Pay homage to one of South Africa's iconic desserts on National Milk Tart Day (February 27) with this liquid form. But don't stop there - it deserves more than just one day of the week. In our house, it's a staple at Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Make this alcoholic version of the famous South African Pie to celebrate all your other festive occasions, too, be it Thanksgiving, birthdays, anniversaries, backyard BBQ, or even baby showers.
Refrigerated in sterilized bottles, it will keep for up to a week, but good luck making it last that long, though. Shake well before using.
Yes! Use plant-based condensed and evaporated milk such as coconut, for example.
More South African Recipes to Try:
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📖 Recipe
South African Milk Tart Cocktail - Melktertjies
EQUIPMENT
- A whisk
Ingredients
- 375 ml vodka
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 14 ounces
- 1 can evaporated milk, 12 ounces
- ground cinnamon, for serving
Instructions
- Empty the can of condensed and evaporated milk into a large bowl.
- Add vodka. If you want less kick, use only 300 ml.
- Blend vodka, condensed milk, and evaporated milk using a whisk, food processor, or pour into an appropriate-sized bottle and shake well.
- Transfer to clean bottles and keep refrigerated for at least an hour before serving, or serve with ice cubes if you prefer.
- Before serving, sprinkle each melktertjie cocktail with ground cinnamon.
Notes
- Start by adding only one cup of vodka if you like less kick. You can always add more to whatever you feel comfortable with. There aren't any rules on ingredient amounts!
- To get the right flavor, always keep the bottle in the fridge. Shake well before pouring into a cocktail, shooter, or shot glass.
- Try using condensed coconut milk for an extra flavor note.
- If you're planning ahead, infuse a bottle of vodka with a couple of cinnamon sticks and a vanilla pod for a few days. Use leftovers to spice up your favorite desserts or serve it as an aperitif before dinner.
- To serve, lightly dip rims in honey or corn syrup, then into cinnamon sugar. You can skip this step and sprinkle some ground cinnamon on top instead.
- This recipe makes approximately 1 liter (4 cups).
- The serving amount depends on the size of your glass. Mine holds ½ cup, which is perfect for sipping. You can serve more people with shot or shooter glasses.
- Nutrition information is based on ½ cup serving.
Barb Butler says
Just curious where you get the “cool” little polar bear ice floats?
Jas says
Hi Barb, I got them from Amazon (affiliate link).