Bougatsa Me Krema

August 30, 2015

I was smitten past times this recipe the 24-hour interval that Greek Vegetarian Lisa posted it, but it's taken almost 2 years for me to sweat my mitt at it. I gave it a become on a sun afternoon abode alone, but non earlier I laid roughly seitan simmering in addition to cued upward Netflix to replay the 2nd flavor of United States of Tara.

The centre of the spell is a custard thrice-thickened amongst cornflour, semolina in addition to eggs. I also made certain to add together my fanciest vanilla. The custard is wrapped exactly inwards a few layers of filo pastry, dabbed amongst butter. (Make certain to sentinel the video embedded inwards Lisa's post for roughly goodness elastic bougatsa wrapping!) Since nosotros weren't able to swallow it all inwards a 24-hour interval I stored most of the custard in addition to pastry separately inwards the fridge, assembling in addition to baking exactly 1 pastry every few days when nosotros were ready for it.

I'm non unremarkably 1 for daintily dusting sweets on serving, but I intend the carbohydrate in addition to cinnamon actually liven upward this dessert. We also accompanied ours amongst sliced kiwi fruit on the side - it turns out that kiwi in addition to custard brand a neat team.

Bougatsa me Krema
(a recipe constitute on Greek Vegetarian,
where it's credited to George Columbaris' Greek Cookery)

three tablespoons cornflour
4 tablespoons semolina
2/3 loving cup castor sugar
2 eggs
650mL milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
twenty sheets filo pastry
150g melted butter
icing carbohydrate in addition to solid soil cinnamon for dusting

In a medium-large saucepan, stir together the cornflour, semolina in addition to sugar. Whisk inwards the eggs in addition to and thence the milk. Set the mixture over medium rut in addition to laid it, stirring regularly, until the custard thickens, nearly 5-10 minutes. The semolina may motility it to thicken unevenly - exactly piece of occupation past times on stirring in addition to don't worry nearly it also much. Take the custard off the rut in addition to whisk inwards the vanilla, trying to polish out those semolina lumps every bit best y'all tin arrive at the sack too. Set the custard aside to cool a bit.

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Line a large baking tray amongst paper.

On the baking tray or a bench, layer v of the filo pastry sheets, brushing a lilliputian melted butter betwixt each layer. Spoon a quarter of the cooled custard into the centre of the pastry rectangle, forming a rectangle of nearly 10cm x 15cm. Wrap the filo pastry upward into a rectangular packet (the video on Greek Vegetarian's page is a goodness guide), using a flake to a greater extent than melted butter to 'glue' the pastry up. Repeat amongst the remaining pastry, butter in addition to custard to brand 4 custard pastries in addition to adjust them on the baking tray.

Bake the pastries for twenty minutes, until lightly golden, turning them upside downwards halfway through. Allow the pastries to balance for at to the lowest degree 10 minutes earlier dusting them amongst icing carbohydrate in addition to cinnamon, in addition to thence slicing in addition to serving.

Sweet Filo Cigars

March 23-24, 2018

I've tentatively joined a novel cooking club! This i aims to pick out a unlike cookbook for each potluck gathering. Yet the start characteristic was Ottolenghi & Tamimi's Jerusalem. It's non a stretch from my other club's driving theme, in addition to I borrowed the volume from a generous Ottolenghi clubmate.

I also stuck to my well-worn dessert-making groove. Jerusalem has a distich of fabulous-looking orangish cakes that would probable move well, but I ultimately preferred to endeavor my manus at the sweetness filo cigars. They're stuffed amongst sweetened reason pistachios in addition to almonds, fried, in addition to and thus dipped inwards honey.

I got an first-class caput start the nighttime before, preparing the nut filling every bit my dinner baked in addition to wrapping it inwards filo inwards front end of Netflix. Things went awry in addition to I actually started swearing at fry-time afterward that evening: the cigars' stubborn, asymmetric centre of majority meant that they wouldn't plow over inwards the oil; i or 2 fifty-fifty outburst their filling. The adjacent morning, I felt a fleck calmer in addition to the chore at manus felt to a greater extent than feasible. All except the start 3 cigars were nicely browned, non likewise greasy, in addition to their weirder edges softened inwards their love dunking.

With an egg in addition to lots of love involved, this recipe is far from vegan. I regard conversion wouldn't live on likewise difficult, though - I'd endeavor skipping the egg entirely, maybe adding a point of margarine or olive crude to the filling in addition to sealing the cigars amongst water. Honey could live on replaced amongst diluted agave nectar, or a heavy carbohydrate syrup amongst a drib of orangish bloom water.

These cigars were the short, sweetness terminate that our sprawling tiffin needed. They're to a greater extent than filo than filling soundless the reason nuts, brightened amongst lemon zest, smoothen through. I used orangish bloom honey, in addition to nosotros could also discern its floral scent. The overall upshot is soft, layered in addition to very, rattling sugary.

Delightful every bit they were, this is in all probability only a one-off recipe for me. I alive thus only about Sydney Rd, where similar Lebanese pastries are cheap, abundant, in addition to fried past times mortal else. Instead I'll salve my filo folding for bougatsa me krema.

Sweet filo cigars
(very slightly adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi's Jerusalem,
where it's credited to Rafram Hadad)

80g flaked almonds
80g pistachios
80g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon zest
180g filo pastry
peanut oil, for frying
180g honey

Blend together the flaked almonds in addition to 60g of the pistachios inwards a nutrient processor, to shape a coarse powder. Tip the reason nuts into a small-medium saucepan, add together the carbohydrate in addition to iv tablespoons of water. Set them over depression estrus in addition to produce for most iv minutes, until the carbohydrate is dissolved. Turn off the estrus in addition to allow the mixture to cool a little. Separate the egg. When the nut mixture is only lukewarm, whisk inwards the vanilla, egg yolk, in addition to lemon zest.

Unravel the filo pastry in addition to role only i sail at a time. Drop a generous tablespoon most 2 cm away from a curt side. Fold i long side upwardly to encompass it, in addition to thus the closest curt side, in addition to thus the other long side; ringlet upwardly the filling to shape a cigar shape, sealing the egg amongst a fiddling brush of egg white. Repeat amongst the residuum of the filling, making a dozen or thus cigars inwards total.

Pour the peanut crude inwards a medium saucepan to most 2cm depth.  Bring it to medium heat. Fry the cigars on 2 sides, inwards batches, until they're golden on both sides. (The master copy recipe thinks this volition get got 10 seconds per side, but it was double that for me.) Cool the cigars on absorbent paper.

Place the love inwards a minor saucepan amongst 1 tablespoon of water. Set it over medium heat, stirring together the love in addition to H2O until they're good mixed. Turn off the estrus in addition to drib 2-3 of the cigars into the saucepan, turning them to coat them inwards the love in addition to letting them sit down for only a infinitesimal each. Pull them out in addition to house them on a serving dish or inwards an airtight container. 

To serve, roughly chop the remaining pistachios in addition to sprinkle them over the cigars.