I have had this wonderful dessert in a number of Greek
restaurants and finally took a stab at making it myself this
weekend, a good way to use up one of those packages of
Phyllo in my freezer. It turned out to be a lot easier than
I had thought it would be, and the results were great.
Galaktabourko
Syrup: 2 cups sugar 3 cups water 1 2" cinnamon stick peel of
one orange or lemon
Put all ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, then
turn town and simmer of 1/2 hour
Custard 6 cups hot milk
1/2 cup sugar 6 egg yolks 1 cup semolina or cream of wheat 1
tsp. vanilla
Pastry: 1 lb. package Phyllo sheets 1 cup clarified butter
In a sauce pan, beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and
pale yellow. Add hot milk slowly while whisking. Add the
semolina. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for
about 15 minutes, until thick. Remove from heat, stir in
vanilla and cool
Butter a shallow 9" x 13" x 2" baking dish. Lay a phyllo
sheet in the pan and brush with butter, including the part
hanging over the sides. Repeat with 8 sheets. Spread the
custard over the phyllo base. Cut the rest of the sheets to
fit the pan and lay them on top of the custard, brushing
each sheet with butter. Slice through the top 4-5 sheets
into serving size pieces with a sharp knife (do not cut into
the custard. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes,
until golden brown. As soon as it comes out of the oven,
pour half the syrup over the top and allow to soak in, then
pour the rest of the syrup over the pastry. Cool for 4-5
hours before serving.