Galaktoboureko

After reading M's Nemesis' post about her snot blocks, aka Galaktoboureko, a Greek custard dessert, I decided to make it as well. Upon telling my Greek friend John that I was going to make this dessert, I didn't really get the reaction I thought I would get. Recently, I've become quite the baker and have made quite a lot of great desserts (I may be biased but I still know what has worked and what hasn't). However, John said "Are you sure you want to make this dessert, you need 10 years of baking experience to make this dessert well". My reply was "It's only custard, how hard can it be". Those were to be my last confident words.

The photo from M's post of the Galaktoboureko looks so good and it didn't sound like she had too much trouble. However, I found that I had lots of problems the whole way through. Most things that I have attempted of late have gone fairly smoothly, even the Japanese Cheesecake which sounded quite hard but turned out unbelievably well. It must have been beginners luck. The galaktoboureko gave me so much trouble that I almost threw out the mixture half way through. Having said that, don't let me deter you from trying. I delight in seeing other people fail muahahahahaha. Only kidding. I'm sure the more advanced bakers out there can make this easily without any problems.

For the recipe, please see M's post as you all know I'm too lazy to rewrite it. However, here are the things that went wrong for me and you should take note of.

* When adding the semolina, definitely add it slowly and stir continuously. I added it too fast and it all clumped up. It was at this stage that I was really angry and wanted to chuck it all out. Instead, I strained out the clump. I knew that the dessert wasn't going to be right and it was as I predicted, there wasn't enough semolina to hold the whole dessert together. The results was that the custard was very rough in texture and too soft. It fell apart really easily.

* I made the syrup as the recipe instructed. I then poured it over the galaktoboureko. However, I think my syrup was still to thin as it never quite set and was just a pool of liquid in the tray. Also, the amount of syrup was way too much for the custard. I think I should have only poured a little so the pastry was still crispy. Either that or pour some and then drain it off after. I'm not sure exactly what you're suppose to do.

Here is how my Galaktoboureko looked. It looks rather awful. The taste was still good and I ate three straight away. However, the texture of the actual custard was not firm enough and too rough. I'm sure if I make it right next time, the texture would be much better.


I need I still need some more baking experience to perfect this dessert. However, I have not given up and will attempt it again soon, having learnt my mistakes this time. I might also ask M's Nemesis for some tips as to what I'm doing wrong.

EDIT: I've decided to post the recipe in case other people's blogs go down but mainly so its all easier to find when I want to make this recipe again myself.

Galaktoboureko

For the custard pie

- 4 cups full cream milk
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 cup semolina
- 4 eggs
- 20g vanilla sugar (or 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
- 2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
- packet of filo pastry
- 90g butter, melted

For the syrup

- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 cups water
- 2 tbs fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp orange flower water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 slices lemon peel

Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- Bring milk and white sugar just to the boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add the semolina in a thin steady stream, stirring constantly. [Very important or else it will clump!!]
- Reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring, for 3-5 minutes or until mixture is smooth and thickens slightly. Add more milk if mixture is too thick.
- Remove from heat and set aside for 15-20 minutes to cool slightly.
- Gradually add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until well combined.
- At this point I strained the custard mixture in a sieve to remove any lumps.
- Add the vanilla sugar (or extract) and lemon rind and stir until well combined.

To assemble

- Place 1 filo sheet in the base of a 24 x 30cm ovenproof dish and brush with a little melted butter.
- Top with another filo sheet and lightly brush with melted butter. Repeat with half the packet of filo sheets and melted butter.
- Pour slightly cooled semolina mixture over the filo in dish.
- Continue layering with remaining filo sheets with melted butter between each sheet. I found it easier to brush the sheet on a flat surface first and then put it over the custard as it gets quite messy otherwise.
- Lightly score top of galaktoboureko with knife. Brush with the remaining melted butter.
- Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until golden.

To make sugar syrup

- Place all ingredients into a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
- Simmer for 15 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly.
- Cut through marked lines on top of galaktoboureko, pour over the hot syrup and and set aside to stand.