«Γαλακτομπούρεκο» Πηγή: Badseed, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaktoboureko#/media/File:Galaktoboureko.jpg
A favourite dessert with phyllo pastry and cream.
Name - Recipe
Γαλακτομπούρεκο.
For the cream:
1 litre of fresh milk
1 cup of fine semolina
5 medium eggs
1½ cups of sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp chilled cow's unsalted butter
For the filo pastry:
500g ready phyllo (filo) pastry sheets (you may find them also as
‘baklava sheets’)
1 cup of melted unsalted butter
For the syrup:
500g sugar
300ml of water
½ lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
For the syrup: Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and boil for 12-15 minutes (start counting from the moment the ingredients come to a boil). Remove the pot from the heat, pour the syrup to a bowl through a strainer and allow to cool down completely.
For the cream: Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat (careful not to form foam). Add slowly the semolina by hand around the surface of milk while whisking to prevent the mixture from sticking. Simmer the mixture for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly until it thickens. Remove from the heat. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the thick milk-semolina mixture and mix well until a smooth and thick cream mixture is formed. Poke the piece of chilled butter with a fork and rub it over the surface of the warm cream. The butter will melt slowly, forming a protective layer on the cream so that skin doesn’t form. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until the cream has cooled slightly
Preparation of galatopourekko: Grease a rectangular and deep baking dish with a little of the melted butter and lay out half of the phyllo pastry sheets one by one, while brushing each one with melted butter. Leave the edges of the pastry sheets to stick out on the sides of the pan. Preheat the oven to a medium temperature. Whisk the cream to (break up any lumps and) become smooth, and pour it into the baking dish on top of the phyllo sheets. Smooth the surface of the cream with a spatula. Turn inwards the edges of the filo sheets that stick out. Cut the remaining phyllo sheets to the dimensions of the baking dish, place them on top of the cream one by one, while brushing each one with butter. Brush the top sheet with butter and carefully score the phyllo sheets into diamonds (or squares). Bake for about 1 hour, until the pastry sheets are golden brown. Remove the galatopourekko from the oven and, while it is hot, pour the cold syrup over it. Serve warm or cold.
Boiling.
Baking in the oven.
In the old days, for the preparation of galatopurekko, housewives would prepare and roll out phyllo pastry sheets at home (Kypri - Protopapa 2003).
Functional and symbolic role
It was customary to serve this dessert on non-fasting days and during the cheesefare week (Kypri - Protopapa 2003).
Additional information and bibliography
Popular also in other South Eastern Mediterranean cuisines. See also the corresponding article on Galatopourekko in the FOOD section.
Oral testimony by Myria Antoniou to the Cyprus Food and Nutrition Museum 2014, Cooking Cypriot Food 2013-2014, unpublished data).
Kypri Th. - Protopapa K. A. (2003), Traditional pastries of Cyprus. Their use and significance in customary life, Publications of the Centre for Scientific Research, XVIII, Nicosia.
Petroulla Hadjittofi, Argyro Xenophontos
Γαλακτομπούρεκο (Μαγειρεύω Κυπριακά 2013). Πηγή: Σταλω Λαζάρου.
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