CUSTARD PIE - GALACTOBOUREKO

Custard Pie - Galactoboureko is my husbands favourite Greek dessert recipe and its not hard to understand why. With the creamy custard sandwiched between crisp sheets of filo pastry and soaked in an aromatic syrup, it truly is delicious.

This custard pie recipe is great to make for dessert for a dinner party as well as being a big hit with children.

SYRUP
1 kilo sugar
water
2-3 tablespoons brandy

Warm up the milk in a saucepan.
In another large saucepan on a low heat, beat the eggs and sugar with a whisk, add the essence and lemon zest, 1 - 2 handfuls of the semolina and stir well.

Add the hot milk to this mixture and the rest of the semolina.
Heat it up stirring continuously, as it gradually thickens until it starts to boil.
As soon as it boils, take the saucepan off the heat and let it cool down a bit.

Prepare the baking tray.
Melt the butter.
Lay the filo pastry in the baking tray, one sheet at a time, brush lightly with butter all over the pastry.
Repeat with each sheet of filo pastry until you had done 9-10 layers.

Pour the cooled custard on top of the pastry. If there is any pastry that has gone up the sides, fold that down on top of the custard.

Now repeat with the last 9 or 10 layers of filo, one at a time, laying it flat on top of the custard, and then brush with melted butter.
If there is some pastry overlapping the sides, fold it down over the pastry to leave a neat edge, especially with the last layer.

With a sharp knife, carefully cut into portions, usually squares or diamond shapes, only cutting through the top one or two layers.
Sprinkle with a little bit of water(by dipping you fingers into a cup of water and shaking the excess water over the pastry) to stop the pastry curling up at the edges.

Bake in a moderate oven (170C, 350F) for 40 - 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Meanwhile, make the syrup by putting all the syrup ingredients into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes, it will become slightly thicker.

Once the custard pie is cooked, pour the hot syrup over it and leave it to stand and absorb some of the syrup.
Cut the portions all the way through. Leave to cool.

If you keep this for more than 1 day you need to store in the fridge due to the eggs in the recipe.

Kali Orexi - Bon Appetit

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