Galaktoboureko

Ingredients

phyllo pastry 

milk: 3 cups

Fine Semolina 1 cup 

I teaspoon solvable gelatine (optional)

Raw sugar: 1/2 cup or to taste

vanilla essence: 2 tsp

Unsalted butter: 250g, melted

You may add 1 egg if you wish ( I don't) 

For the syrup

Raw sugar: 2 cup

water: 2 cup

1/4 cup of good quality honey

lemon juice: 1 tablespoons

Stick of cinnamon

 

Directions

Beat with electric mixer 1 cup of cold milk sugar and semolina until all has combined 

Place over a hot  plate and heat the rest of the milk gently until it comes to a simmer stirring continuously. Pour the rest milk into the mixture to heat and thicken stirring constantly so that it doesn't catch on the bottom. Make sure that mixture is not too thick because when it bakes it will thicken further. A good test is dip a spoon in to the custard it should be coated it with one and a half millimetres of custard. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla and stir well. 

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a baking dish and line with half the phyllo pastry brushing each sheet with butter. Pour in the custard .  Cover with the remaining Philo sheets  buttering each sheet. 

To prepare the syrup, dissolve the raw sugar (2 cups) and honey in the water (2cups) and simmer add a stick of cinnamon on over medium heat add the 1Tbs of lemon juice. This will help the syrup to thicken. stir so that the sugar dissolves. Cook until it just starts to have bubbles (do not let it colour too much) then take off the heat to cool. When cooled add vanilla sugar or essence and stir in to the syrup.

Pour the custard into the phyllo base then add a top layer of phyllo making sure each layer is buttered before the next layer is added. 

Score the top of the dessert with a sharp knife. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Take out of the oven and while still hot pour the cool syrup over it. Let it cool to room temperature before you put in a refrigerator to set for at least an hour then it's ready to enjoy! 

Merry Christmas and a happy New year to every body

Fay's Baklava with pistachio nuts

INGREDIENTS

½ cup butter, melted

1/2cup corn oil

1 package (16 ounce) phyllo dough, thawed

¾ cup unsalted pistachio nuts, finely chopped
600 mls water 

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup honey

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons juice from lemon

2 tbls of dry bread crumbs

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan.

In a bowl, combine pistachio nuts and cine on bread cumbs and  2 tbls of sugar Take eight sheets of phyllo dough and layer them in the pan, spreading each sheet with melted butter. Spread about half of the nut mixture over the phyllo dough and cover with a buttered sheet of phyllo dough.

Layer five more sheets of phyllo dough, buttering each sheet. Add remaining nut mixture and layer with remaining sheets of phyllo dough, buttering each sheet.

Using a knife, cut the baklava into 1 ½” 

Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown. About 30 minutes before Baklava is finished, combine sugar, honey, cinnamon, and lemon juice for glaze in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, making sure that the sugar is completely dissolved. Reduce heat and allow the mixture to simmer for five minutes. When Baklava is finished cooking, drizzle hot syrup over top and let cool.