Galaktoboureko

Custard Pie in Syrup

Gala is milk, and this is a milk pie: a thick semolina custard set between buttered sheets of filo and soaked, once baked, in lemon-scented syrup. The top stays crisp, the base goes soft and the middle wobbles. It is best a few hours after it is made.

The recipe read sets a custard of a litre of milk, 250 g of fine semolina, 250 g of sugar and six small eggs between 400 g of filo brushed with 250 g of butter, bakes it at 180°C for 45 minutes and pours cooled lemon syrup over the hot pastry.

Ingredients

For the syrup

  • 750 g granulated sugar
  • 600 ml water
  • A strip of lemon peel and 1 tbsp lemon juice

For the custard

  • 1 litre whole milk
  • 250 g caster sugar
  • 250 g fine semolina
  • 6 small eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 30 g butter

For the pastry

  • 400 g filo pastry
  • 250 g unsalted butter, melted

Method

  1. Make the syrup first Put the sugar, water and lemon peel in a saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves, then boil without stirring for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Add the lemon juice and leave to cool completely.
  2. Make the custard Heat the milk and sugar in a large saucepan until just below boiling. Pour in the semolina in a thin stream, whisking all the time, and cook over a low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until thick. Take off the heat, stir in the butter and vanilla, and cool for 10 minutes. Beat in the eggs a little at a time.
  3. Line the tin Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Brush the tin with melted butter. Lay half the filo sheets in the tin one by one, brushing each with butter and letting the edges hang over the sides.
  4. Fill and cover Pour in the custard and level it. Fold the overhanging pastry over the custard. Cover with the remaining sheets, buttering each, and tuck the edges in. Score the top few layers into 12 pieces with a sharp knife and sprinkle with a little water.
  5. Bake and soak Bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is deep golden and crisp. Ladle the cold syrup slowly and evenly over the hot pie. Leave for at least 1 hour, until the syrup is absorbed, before cutting.

Food safety

Sugar syrup is far hotter than boiling water. Do not stir it once it boils, and keep children away from the pan.

Cold syrup on hot pastry, or the reverse. If both are hot, the filo goes soggy.

Keep it at room temperature on the day it is made; chill any left over and eat within two days.

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