it’s called galaktoboureko, and the moment i laid my eyes on this post from peter at kalofagas, the recipe went directly onto the short list. because this is what i dream of. not fame, nor fortune, but a big, thick wad of not overly rich, smooth and creamy custard. and no one pulls this off like the greeks. and from the sound of it, peter is about as greek as a man can get.
so i ventured off into the esoteric world of one worded six syllable desserts. and it was all good, except for this one thing. and let me sum it up for you in two words.
phuck phyllo.
because i gotta say, the whole phyllo aspect of this dish was not pretty. we wrestled. we wrangled. and then i resorted to swearing at the pastry. i mean, did you hear that? i swore at store bought pastry. repeatedly. how phuking ridiculous is that?
now, i can totally understand hating ‘from scratch’ pastry – my #1 culinary nemesis. because ‘from scratch’ pastry is beyond hateable. even if you get it to look right, it’s NEVER flakey and delicious. ever. i see all you food bloggers at thanksgiving making pie after pie with your helpful hint after hint. but i’m bold enough to say, i’m not buying it. i happen to know that truly excellent pastry skills soley relies on the baker having a rare and defomed dna gene.
so anyway, this should have gone smoothly and did not, and is therefore the perfect example of why i should never touch pastry of any kind. and yes, i bought the best i could find. and yes i let it thaw properly. but it stuck togther in spots and broke to pieces in others. and i was not having any fun. not even a little. and just for yucks, you really should have seen my kitchen floor. it looked like a ticker tape parade had just come through.
but i will say two things about it all. first and foremost – in the end, i was victorious. and secondly - raw phyllo with butter shmeared all over it is strangely delicious…
it looked so promising… as though this would be a pastry walk in the park… but nooooo…
the custard – cooling off while hurting no one’s feelings, unlike the phyllo
Galaktoboureko (γαλακτομπο?ρεκο)
recipe from kalofagas
the only minor change i made was to add salt to the syrup and i also added some orange blossom water because it was right in front of me and in that moment i figured it would add that certain je ne sais quoi (which i wish i could say in greek but the only greek i speak is menu - and the word opa!). if i were to make this again, which is tempting i would definitely add both those ingredients to the syrup. that’s how good i am at this. but besides that, i changed nothing. it’s a great recipe. thanks peter. oh, and phuck phyllo. amen.
7 eggs, room temp.
10 cups of whole milk (room temp.)
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of fine semolina flour
1 heaping Tbsp. of butter
zest of 1 lemon
1 package of commercial phyllo
2 sticks of melted butter (for brushing)
14" X 11" Corningware baking dish
Syrup
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of water
juice & zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tspn of salt
2 Tbls of orange blossom water (optional)
Place a large pot over medium-high heat and add your eggs, sugar and semolina and mix constantly over medium heat until incorporated.
Add the milk, zest and butter and now continue to mix using a potato masher until your custard is slightly thick, yet not runny. Place a tea towel between the pot of custard and the pot’s lid, cover and reserve (off the heat).
Pre-heat your oven to 350F. Butter the baking dish. Count how many sheets you have in your package of phyllo and divide in half. One half will go on the bottom, the second half will go on top.
In the bottom of the pan, layer your one half of phyllo, leaving the edges hanging over the sides of the pan. Brush each sheet generously with the melted butter. Pour the custard mixture over the bottom phyllo layers.
Fold the excess phyllo over and into the pan and evenly distribute the remaining sheets of phyllo to entirely cover the custard. Again, ensure that each sheet is brished generously with butter.
With a very sharp knife, score the phyllo (just penetrating) to make your desired size and shapes of your Galaktoboureko pieces (this makes it easier to cut later and this will also allow the syrup to penetrate the pie better.
Bake in the middle rack for 35-40 minutes or until the top is nice and golden-brown. Allow the Galaktoboureko to cool to room temperature.
To make your syrup, add the sugar, water, juice, salt and zest and bring to a boil and count 10 minutes for your syrup to develop. stir in orange blossom water.
Using a ladle, pour your syrup over the Galaktoboureko (1 ladle at a time) until your syrup has been absorbed.
Carefully complete the slicing of your pieces (tracing your initial cuts), allow to cool for approx. 1 hour and refrigerate uncovered over night to set. Serve cold or room temperature.
photogenic little number
the only catch was, i made the galaktabouriko that day – for that night. i neglected to read the directions to the end, as in "refridgerate uncovered overnight". oops. it stayed pretty hot right out of the oven (this pan weighs a ton as it’s loaded with custard) but finally at 5:30 after cooling for about an hour or so, i threw it in the refrigerator, despite my fears of every meat and dairy product i owned spoiling, and by 9 pm when i cut into it, it was pretty firm and held together nicely, but yes, it was better the next day. and the next day. and even the next. it makes 16 large pieces. and i never got tired of it.
and suddenly while looking at this photo, i am desperately longing for more γαλακτομπο?ρεκο…
49 responses so far ↓
1 Lindsay // May 23, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Yes… the love/hate relationship with pastry. And yet we keep coming back?
My last phyllo-phiasco involved some cayenne pepper masquerading as cinnamon. Doesn’t that sound delicious…
2 Robert // May 23, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Fret,
‘raw phyllo with butter shmeared all over it is strangely delicious…’
Grandma warns of worms…………….
3 Vincent // May 23, 2008 at 10:25 pm
That looks phucking delicious man.
4 lucy // May 23, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I’ve been suspicious of phyllo for a long time. never quite brave enough to take it on myself. I just know that it’ll be disastrous. but this looks yuuuuummy. so I’m glad you fought the good fight
5 Traci @ Soup of The Day // May 24, 2008 at 12:06 am
I dated a Greek for 3 years and I never EVER had a good dessert from this family!!! Someone needs to give this recipe to Mrs. P********. All I ever saw was a dry phyllo thing smothered in honey.
Guess I dated the wrong Greek.
6 Brittany // May 24, 2008 at 12:33 am
I can’t pronounce it. But I want it.
I’m sure you have now learned how forgiving phyllo is. It can be a maddening disaster while you are working with it, but somehow it always comes out of the oven looking pretty (as this pan of deliciousness that shall remain nameless did).
phukin A
7 melissa // May 24, 2008 at 1:33 am
you kill me claudia, with your… “(no, really…)” and “oh, and phuck phyllo. amen.”
you just told me “fuck pastry dough.” indeed.
glad you made something you enjoyed. heh. nice job.
8 Homecooked // May 24, 2008 at 2:56 am
Wow….this looks delicious! And so pretty
9 diva // May 24, 2008 at 3:51 am
holy cow that looks wickedly good.
10 Peter // May 24, 2008 at 4:23 am
LOL @ Traci and Congrats to Claudia on a fab looking Galaktoboureko!
Claudia, it looks wonderful and although you cussed your phyllo, it looks like you won!
Practice makes perfect…the more you work with phyllo, the better you’ll get.
Bravo!
11 Diana // May 24, 2008 at 5:38 am
Awesome, awesome. Custard + pastry = my two favorite things. I want to wrap myself up in that creamy photo!
12 Kim // May 24, 2008 at 6:30 am
Custard on phyllo looks so good. Claudia, I am now aware of aversion to making your own pastry, but trust me you have it in you. Don’t give up. Great photos!
13 aforkfulofspaghetti // May 24, 2008 at 7:17 am
Well done for sticking at it (‘scuse the pun). The end result looks well worth it. I, like you, bookmarked Peter’s recipe, and I’m waiting to get my kitchen back so that I can make it – but now I’m forewarned about the possible hazards, too!
14 Bellini Valli // May 24, 2008 at 9:00 am
All we need is a view of the Agean Sea, some Greek God to serve us ouzo and we are set:D
15 Mal Carne // May 24, 2008 at 9:05 am
Phyllo is a harsh mistress. Too many years of being assigned phyllo related tasks (I firmly believe that it was used as punishment) leaves me making excuses as to why I can’t use it, whenever the word comes up.
Won’t freeze well/ too cheesey for passed appetizers/won’t hold up on a buffet/”this isn’t ’93, I’m not using phucking phyllo”….. anything to never have to touch that shite again as long as I live.
16 RecipeGirl // May 24, 2008 at 9:39 am
Yeah, phyllo has that effect on me too. Loads of patience and “skill” required
Looks like you turned out a pretty yummy product though!
17 Lesley // May 24, 2008 at 10:56 am
PLEASE tell me there’s a piece left with my name on it. I will pay money. I will barter for it. Mostly because of the words “orange blossom” which I’m sure made it more than amazing.
I still have some phyllo in the phreezer. I ought to just throw it out. It makes me want to fashion a noose out of it and end it all just thinking about what it did to my sanity the one time I tried baking with it.
18 Indeo // May 24, 2008 at 12:07 pm
lovely. simply lovely.
what memories! my mother is half hungarian, half greek. i inherited the hungarian gene. i make anything with cabbage, meat, garlic and paprika. i avoid cooking greek food, especially anything with phyllo. the results are disastrous and inedible. one of my many sisters, however, is the phyllo queen. she has amazing skills, with meticulous attention to detail. nothing spills on the counter, hits the floor, or ends up in her hair. she also looks like the greeks in our family—tall, dark, and skinny. yes, my jealousy has no bounds.
the only major difference between this recipe and my family’s? we use a couple of tablespoons of warm honey, instead of sugar, for the syrup. maybe it’s an “island thing.”
19 cookiecrumb // May 24, 2008 at 12:43 pm
you MADE that?
OMG. I thought that’s what Greek festivals were for, so we wouldn’t have to phuck with the phyllo ourselves.
Beauty.
20 Robin // May 24, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I love the harmless look of that custard picture!!
Phyllo sucks, but in that sucky-deliciosly addicting way.
21 Kevin // May 24, 2008 at 2:09 pm
That looks and sounds so good!! Galaktoboureko has been on my list of things to try for a while now. I will have to move it up a bit.
22 Marc @ No Recipes // May 24, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Looks delicious! You may have done this, but the flaking and breaking usually happens when it starts drying out, if you put a damp kitchen towel over the phyllo it usually prevents this from happening. As for the sticking, I’ve had that happen to me and it’s frustrating. I think this is from the phyllo defrosting them being refrozen again (probably the grocery store’s fault).
23 democommie // May 24, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Claudia:
Something about my hand smeared with melted butter makes it strangely delicious–I’m thinkin’ it’s the butter.
I’ve used phyllo once or twice and found it to be a bitch to work with but, then, so am I. Even amongst the greeks, bulgarians, armenians, arabs and jews that I’ve know who’ve used the stuff it tends to elicit eyerolling and imprecation. I’ve been told that wrapping it in a damp towel helps, but whatever a pain in the ass it might be–I ain’t gonna trade using it for making my own puff pastry.
24 NOBLE PIG // May 24, 2008 at 10:22 pm
That is unbelievable! Just beautiful!
25 canarygirl // May 25, 2008 at 1:52 am
OMphuckingG that looks good. I’m sorry that your phyllo was unkind during the assembly, but MAN when you bit into that lusciousness, you kind of forgot the phyllo pain, right? Right? Please tell me you did, because I need to make this.
26 Lauren // May 25, 2008 at 10:45 am
those pictures look sooo yummy! (had to do it)
27 Nicole // May 25, 2008 at 12:05 pm
YUM! As soon as I saw your picture I knew you would be in for a treat. I’m a 2nd generation american greek and nothing beats my yiayia’s pastrys.
28 BIG Eater // May 25, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I love the look of this and your blog. I am really into your writing style and your photos look wonderful!
So glad to have found you!
Write on and Happy Memorial Day!
29 Mary Coleman // May 25, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I thought that looked wonderful when I saw it on Peter’s blog. It even looks better now.
I may have to wrestle myself into making this!
30 giz // May 25, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I’m killing myself laughing – phyllo gets easier – honestly it does – now I want to see you make your phyllo from scratch the way Peter did and then we can listen to the colourful language…hahahaha
When I first saw that recipe on Peter’s blog, I was ready to get in my car, go straight to his mother’s house (we’re sort of in the same city – same city limits anyways) and absolutely beg her to adopt me and teach me what she knows.
You did a great job. I have this one short listed too and waiting for a day when I have mega patience to stick it out.
31 Ethel // May 25, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I give you credit even for attempting this recipe. My friend directed me to your blog awhile ago. Enjoy your “cooking/writing voice.” Really entertaining.
32 Zenchef // May 25, 2008 at 10:20 pm
That was really ambitious but it came out beautifully. Very nicely done.
33 Heather // May 25, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I think I’ll skip the Cook and the Fret and get straight to the Eat, m’kay?
I can’t believe you made grmslogjrlsjjgmrjps.
34 wendy // May 25, 2008 at 11:49 pm
it was better the next day. and the next day. and even the next. and i never got tired of it.
IT WAS DELICIOUS
35 Peter // May 26, 2008 at 7:01 am
Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
I’ve had phyllo on the brain lately, so now I will surely go out and buy some.
36 Razor Family Farms // May 26, 2008 at 1:57 pm
How dare you taunt me with this gorgeous food which has added ten pounds to my hips as I sit here steaming up the computer screen making eyes at that there custard!
I am suffering. I am hungry. I am well on my way to tipping the scales into: fat.
37 Razor Family Farms // May 26, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I’m really not mad… just suffering intense hunger pains.
Gosh, I love your blog.
38 nina // May 26, 2008 at 3:04 pm
This looks really delicious even though you had a hard time with the phyllo.
39 lifeinrecipes // May 26, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I really am making this. And I might not share.
40 cary // May 26, 2008 at 6:10 pm
This was a winner, baby. I really loved it. But you screwed up by giving nearly half of it away.
41 Becky And The Beanstock // May 27, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Well, I can’t pronounce it but given the chance I sure would eat it! Alas, like you I am pastry challenged (I can make it taste good, I just can’t make it look like anything anyone would want to eat).
The in-oven photos is lovely. The thing has an almost angelic glow…
42 Dana // May 27, 2008 at 12:41 pm
But it looks so preeetty! I remember my mom made this when I was a young girl (random, because we are not Greek…at all…). So good — I love the filling!
43 lisa // May 27, 2008 at 4:28 pm
When I saw that last photo, I thought ‘that’s what I was hoping it looked like.’ I’m drooling a little now.
44 Dr. Biggles // May 27, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Yup, you’re right, deformed dna gene. I only know 1 pastry chef and am convinced she’s been using The Force for years for what she creates. I’ve taken about 4 of her classes and still don’t even come remotely close to accomplishing anything.
Then? I host a D.O.G. and Dr. Jones makes baklava in a fricken cast iron dutch oven over charcoal. Perfection.
http://www.cyberbilly.com/meathenge/archives/000896.html
I’ll stick to what I know and dabble from here to far.
xo, Biggles
45 joycooks // May 28, 2008 at 9:12 am
Looks like you pulled it off, despite the wrangling. And, I just had an amazing little phyllo dumpling stuffed with chocolate in Napa. Could it be it’s making a comback? I think it should be reserved for the Greeks. That and Ouzo. They can have them both!
46 Mari // May 30, 2008 at 5:00 pm
OMG, that looks like sin wrapped in phyllo! Your pastry skills are obviously not that bad, my dear, not bad at all.
47 yveala // May 31, 2008 at 12:35 pm
when my weight is no longer important to me (in about 30 years or so) i will attempt this. until then, it’s way tooo dangerous to have in my kitchen.
i will, though, fantasize about the taste while sitting here.
48 fluffernutter // May 31, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Between the Greek letters and the baking, you’re just showing off…
49 Cassandra // Jul 10, 2008 at 3:41 pm
This looks like a wonderful, very very convincing greek galaktoboureko!! Aaaaahhhh, it reminds me of my childhood… in fact, you’ve inspired me to make it myself
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