October 14 is National Dessert Day, a day when you can indulge in your favourite Greek desserts without regret or remorse.
In celebration, we share our Bougatsa recipe to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Bougatsa is a traditional Greek dessert, which can be eaten any time of the day!
It consists of layers and layers of delicious and crispy filo pastry, which is filled with a creamy custard and then dusted with cinnamon and icing sugar.
Here is an easy recipe to follow from my yiayia's hands (walking cookbook).
It’s simply DIVINE and I know you want to eat it!
*Tip: Use a clean cloth to cover the phyllo you are not yet working with.
Ingredients
1 packet of filo pastry
1 litre of milk
1 cup of caster sugar
1 cup of fine semolina
4 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon of vanilla essence
orange rind, grated
oil for brushing
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
icing sugar and cinnamon, for dusting
Method
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Heat milk in a pot over medium heat. Add the semolina and stir consistently. Allow the cream to thicken.
In a bowl, mix the beaten eggs, sugar, vanilla essence and cinnamon.
Add the mixture from the bowl into the pot. Keep stirring over the heat until the mixture thickens into a custard and no lumps form. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Open up your pack of phyllo and unwrap the sheets. Lay 3 sheets of pastry one on top of the other, brushing oil between each sheet. Cut pastry into 4 squares.
Place 1/3 cup of custard mixture in the bottom center of your square. Fold sides over and then roll up. Brush the top with oil.
Place each roll on a greased tray and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
When ready, remove tray from oven. Allow the bougatses to cool on a rack.