Galaktoboureko

My friend's niece was coming up from South Carolina and had wanted to go to the Greek Festival. Unfortunately she came up several days after. My friend hunted down the recipe online. I ran to the store to get all the ingredients and disposable pan to put it in.
Colleen and I were off and running trying to make this dish. These pictures are from our first run through before her niece came up. It was a learning lesson.

1. We needed a much bigger pan. There was just too much of it. It needed to be thinner.

2. We needed a sharper knife to cut with



3. We really needed 2 people to mix the custard while it cooked.






As you see or cooking station was the table, a small counter space and the stove. There were three people in the kitchen working on this particular project. My friend Colleen, her husband Ben, and I. Colleen and I were doing the cooking. Colleen worked the Phyllo dough. Ben did the clean up as we were going along.

This was a fairly simple recipe that we made harder because it was the first time doing it. The second time we made this particular recipe it was faster. It was like working a fine tuned instrument. Of course the second time we made this it was 8 am. Colleen and I were barely awake and it was a rush to get it completed and cooled before she had to leave by 10 am.

As you can see in the picture above there are several pans sitting against the door. We didn't know which one to use but we knew we were going to have to make this twice anyway. The first time was thicker then we liked. It was still delicious none the less.

Word of warning though. NEVER eat custard warm. Bad combination on your body.

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

For the custard:

6 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1 cup semolina, cream of wheat, or rice flour

1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon peel

1 Tablespoon of lemon juice

6 cups of whole milk ( we used 2%)

1/2 to 1 cup of butter, melted

1 pound of commercial phyllo dough sheets, defrosted

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For the the syrup:

1 and 1/3 cups of sugar

1 cup of water

1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

1 slice of lemon peel

Directions:

Make the syrup:

In a saucepan, bring the sugar and the water to a boil over medium-low hear. Add the lemon peel, reduce hear to low, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add lemon juice( DO NOT STIR) and set aside, away from the heat, to cool.

Make the custard:

With an electric mixer on high speed, beat 2 eggs with 1/3 the sugar until light and frothy, add 2 more eggs and another 1/3 of the sugar, and repeat. Continue beating for 2 minutes. Add the semolina, lemon juice, and grated lemon peel. Continue beating and add the milk and 2 Tablespoons of the melted butter. Beat for another 5-6 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy

Preheat the oven to 355F ( 180C)

Pour the custard mixture into a pot and heat over medium heat. Stir VIGOROUSLY with a whisk until it thickens to the consistency of pureed baby food. Remove from heat immediately and set aside.

Now Its time to assemble the Product :)

The recipe states to use an 11-inch diameter round baking pan or equivalent. Well we used a shallow baking dish that was bigger.

Brush the bottom, sides, and rim of the pan with melted butter. Open the phyllo dough and count the sheets. Half will be used on the bottom, half on the top.

Lay one sheet of phyllo on the bottom of the pan, starting at one side and letting excess phyllo extend over one side. Brush the phyllo on the bottom of the pan with butter. Lay another sheet over the first, brush with butter, and continue until half the phyllo sheets have been used.

Give the custard a quick whisk and spoon over the bottom layer of phyllo sheets, spreading evenly so it covers the bottom out to the sides with no gaps and no air bubbles.

Fold in the extending pieces of phyllo over the filling one at a time (they will cover about half the pan) brushing each with butter until all are folded in. Fold in corners as well so all the phyllo is inside the pan and brushed with butter.

Using the remaining phyllo sheets, place them one at a time on top of the filling, extending out the side opposite the bottom sheets. Brush each with butter, then one at a time, fold in the extending pieces butter the tops. When all the phyllo has been folded in and corners folded in, brush the top with butter.

Cut the galaktoboureko into serving-sized pieces (I cut 20) using a very sharp knife to cut all the way through to the bottom. The phyllo and custard filling are delicate so cut with care. (I use a razor to do the first cut and then follow up with a knife. I've also heard that some use an electric knife.)

Bake on one rack lower than the middle of the oven at 350F (175C) for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and pour the cooled syrup evenly over the hot pastry. Pour up to and around the edges. Set aside and allow to cool and absorb the syrup (a few hours). Serve sprinkled with cinnamon if desired.

Recipe says that it makes 20 pieces. It all depends on how you slice it and the size of the pan.

Refrigerate left overs in an airtight container. It only save for a day or two.