It's no real secret that I have an incredible sweet tooth. Consequently if you've been reading Gourmet Worrier for any length of time or have bothered to take a look at the recipe index, you'd see that dessert clearly takes precedence here. Hence, I firmly believe that 'life is too short, so we should eat dessert first'.

When it comes to dessert I must confess that I have a particular fondness for Greek sweets. One of my all time favourite Greek desserts would have to be galaktobouriko. Essentially galaktobouriko is layers of filo pastry filled with a semolina based custard that is baked to a crisp and then drenched in hot syrup.

The recipe below is my personal spin on Anastasia's classic recipe. She was not perturbed at all that I had tweaked it a little, in fact she said her mama would be proud of my efforts. So if there are any die-hard galaktobouriko purists out there like Nicholas, then I suggest you stop reading now so to avoid being disappointed or offended.

Galaktobouriko with Orange Blossom & Vanilla Syrup

Ingredients

For the galaktoburiko

375g filo pastry

250g unsalted butter, melted

1 litre full cream milk, organic

2 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks, organic

¾ cup of golden caster sugar

½ cup of fine semolina

¼ cup of orange blossom water

½ vanilla bean, split

For the syrup

1½ cups of golden caster sugar

1 cup of water

2 tbsp orange blossom water

½ vanilla bean, split

The zest of one orange

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/ 375F/Gas Mark 5 and butter a 25cm x 30cm baking dish or tin.

2. Divide the filo pastry in half and then line the baking dish with half the filo pastry, which has been brushed with melted butter. I fold each sheet of filo in half to fit the baking dish or tin. Repeat the process with the other half and then cover with cling wrap and set aside. Reserve remaining butter.

3. Add half the vanilla bean to the milk and gently bring to the boil. Allow the milk to then cool for about 15minutes. In the meantime, beat the eggs and sugar until nice and fluffy. Add the semolina. Then add the milk slowly, beating/whisking continuously. Put the custard back into the saucepan and on a low heat, stir until the custard thickens. Remove from the heat and remove the vanilla bean. Add remaining butter and the orange blossom water. If there is no butter left over add about 75g and stir in well.

4. Pour the semolina custard into the filo lined baking dish. Place the other half of the buttered filo sheets on top. Using a serrated knife, carefully score the top of the filo into desired sizes. Place the galaktobouriko in the oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 160C and cook for a further 35 minutes.

5. About 10 minutes before the galaktobouriko is out of the oven, cook up the syrup ingredients by boiling them in a saucepan for 7 minutes over a low-medium heat. When the galaktobouriko is cooked, remove from the oven and carefully pour the hot syrup tablespoon by tablespoon over the top. Allow to cool before serving.


 It's perfectly fine to make the galaktobouriko the day before serving. Just don't cover it with cling wrap when you refrigerate it otherwise the filo pastry will go soggy.





A Mediterranean Feast of the
Mythic Islands of Malta & Sicily

June 7th-17th, 2011
Ten day fully escorted gastronomic tour

 
Download 'A Mediterranean Feast' 2011 Tour Brochure ( 111kb pdf)

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