Make This Greek Classic Dessert Into a Phyllo Braid (Galaktoboureko)

Get the recipe here: https://www.dimitrasdishes.com/galaktoboureko-phyllo-braid-greek-semolina-custard-in-phyllo/
Ingredients
For the Semolina Custard:

8 cups (1.9 L) whole milk
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1 cup (170 to 180 g) fine semolina
6 large eggs, room temperature
4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt
For the Syrup
2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
1½ cups (355 ml) water
2 to 3 tablespoons honey
Strips of lemon peel or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For Assembly

20 to 24 sheets #4 phyllo, thawed overnight in the refrigerator
1 to 1½ cups (225 to 340 g) clarified butter or melted unsalted butter, cooled
Powdered sugar or cinnamon for garnish, optional
Instructions
Prepare the syrup: Combine sugar, water, honey, and lemon peel in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and cool completely. Discard lemon peel before using. Allow the syrup to cool completely.

Make the custard by warming the milk, sugar, lemon zest, and salt in a large pot over medium heat. When steaming, rain in the semolina while whisking. Cook, whisking, until thick and creamy.
Off the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, then temper with a ladle of hot custard, whisking constantly. Return the tempered eggs to the pot and whisk until smooth and glossy. Transfer to a wide bowl, press plastic wrap directly on the surface, and cool to lukewarm.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment.

Set up for assembly. Unwrap the phyllo and keep it covered with a barely damp towel. Divide the phyllo into two stacks of 10 to 12 sheets each for two braids.
Assemble the first braid. Lay one sheet on the parchment, brush lightly with butter, and repeat to build a stack of 10 to 12 sheets. Spoon a generous strip of lukewarm custard down the center lengthwise, leaving 2-3 inches at each short end bare. Using a sharp knife, make angled cuts in the phyllo on both sides of the custard every 1 to 1½ inches to create strips for braiding. Fold in the short ends, then alternately cross the strips over the custard to form a braid. Brush the top with butter.
Repeat with the second stack to make the second braid. You will have about 1 to 2 cups of custard left; cover and refrigerate to enjoy as pudding later.
Bake 50 to 60 minutes until both braids are deeply golden and crisp; time varies by oven. If the tops brown too quickly, tent loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
Syrup the hot pastry immediately. While the braids are hot, slowly ladle the cool syrup over them, allowing it to soak in. You may not need all of the syrup; stop when the tops are glistening and a little syrup pools around the edges.
Cool at least 45 minutes so the custard sets and the syrup distributes. Slice with a serrated knife and serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes
Phyllo handling tip: keep sheets covered so they don’t dry out; brush lightly to avoid sogginess.
Texture cue: custard should be thick but spreadable; if very stiff, whisk in a splash of warm milk before assembling.
Make ahead: bake and syrup earlier in the day; keep at room temperature for several hours. For longer storage, refrigerate and re-crisp slices in a 300°F (150°C) oven for a few minutes.
Leftover custard ideas: chill and serve as pudding with cinnamon and honey, pipe into mini tart shells, layer into bougatsa cups, or spoon over fruit.

Freezer Instructions: Assemble the braids and freeze befpre baking. They will keep fresh up to 2 months. Once frozen solid either transfer them to freezer-safe bags or wrap with sevaral layers of plastic so taht they do not absorb freezer odors. Bake at 350 until golden and crisp. Top with syrup.

Music Used:
Greek Sun Time (With Intro)
ITEM ID: 66582698
By: tonyanthony

Its All Greek
ITEM ID: 84456733
By: LowNotes

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Hi everyoneas to another episode of Dimmitra’s Dishes. Today I’m going to be teaching you how to make a beautiful and delicious classic Greek dessert with a little modern twist on it. We’re making galacto buro which is a Greek custard pie. Flaky, buttery filo shaped into a braid. It’s filled with that creamy semolina custard. Once it comes out of the oven, it’s topped with the delicious syrup. And then you have to wait a little bit, which is the hardest part. But when you go to serve this, of course, it’s gorgeous to look at. And then when you bite into it, it’s creamy and so good. And it’s perfect if you’re hosting a special dinner. The holidays are right around the corner. We’re going to have lots of gatherings. If you want to bring something special to a dinner that you’re going to, so that way you’re not empty-handed. Something special for the host. This is perfect. You It makes two. So you can freeze one and bake one. Let’s get started making it. Okay, so just like all syrup based desserts, we’re going to begin by making the syrup because you want the syrup to have a chance to cool down. We always pour cool syrup over hot pastry. So in the saucepan over here, I’m just going to add two cups of granulated sugar, 1 and 1/2 cups of water, one cinnamon stick, lemon peel. I just like to use this peeler that I peel potatoes with and carrots and stuff like that. And just get that zest out. You don’t want to go too deep to the white part because that’s bitter. That bright shiny yellow part is where all the flavor is. So, get the lemon zest in there. You can use orange zest instead if you prefer an orange flavor or leave it out altogether. And then this is going to go over the heat. This is going to cook until it comes to a boil. And once that sugar has melted, turn the heat off. Take it off of the heat and stir in one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Set this aside so it can cool completely. Okay, now it’s time to make the custard. This custard is so good. So, for the custard, I’m going to add five cups of whole milk into my saucepan. And then there’s one cup of granulated sugar that’s going into the custard, but I’ll put about 3/4 of it or half of it in the milk. And the rest is going to go in the same pitcher that I had the milk in because we’re going to beat the eggs and the semolina with it. When you heat up milk over the stove top and you add some sugar to the pot, especially if you’re making obviously a sweet custard, don’t mix it. The sugar that goes down to the bottom is going to melt and it will protect the milk from sticking to your pot. That’s a little pastry chef secret that I use every single time when I’m making a custard. So, while the milk is heating, you want it to get steaming hot. We’re going to beat the eggs with the sugar and the semolina flour. So to the sugar pitcher situation that we have over here, I’ll add four eggs to it. The eggs should be at room temperature. That everything will work better that way. And then start beating that together until everything is incorporated. And then I’ll add one cup of fine semolina flour and mix that really well. Just whisk it up until everything is combined. Once the milk is piping hot, I’m going to pour it carefully into the egg mixture. This is going to temper the eggs and keep everything from curdling. and it’s going to help make a really smooth and creamy custard. So, get the milk in there, whisk it all together and then pour everything back into the saucepan. This is going to cook over medium heat until it begins to boil. You do not want to step aside at this point. Stay over your stove top and keep mixing this. This happens really quickly because the second it starts boiling, it’s going to thicken considerably. And once it gets nice and thick, you want to turn the heat off, take it off of the heat, and then we’ll add some butter. So 2 oz or 60 g of unsalted butter are going in here and 2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Whisk that really well and set it aside. And now we’ll assemble our braids. This recipe makes two braids and it freezes beautifully. So you can bake one and freeze the other or if you’re serving them both, you can bake both of them. We’re going to take one layer of filo at a time. But before we do that, you want to line your work area with a parchment paper. the same parchment paper that’s going to go onto the baking tray. Otherwise, it’s going to be very difficult to move your braid over to the pan once it’s assembled and it’s not already in the pan. So, don’t do that. I’ve done that before and it’s just tricky and the thing can just fall apart. So, place the parchment paper down on your work surface and then we’re going to take 10 to 12 layers of felo. So, one sheet at a time. I’ve melted two sticks of unsalted butter in this cup and I’m just going to lightly drizzle some butter on each layer and then lightly brush it too. You don’t have to get the butter everywhere. When it cooks in the oven, it’ll spread a little bit. So, butter all those layers. Again, 10 to 12. If the sheets are ever sticking together, don’t try to separate them. You can put two sheets down at a time if you need to. That’s totally fine. If you try to separate them, they’ll just tear and then you’ll waste them. So once you get the felo layer down there, we’re going to take half of that custard or a little bit less than half. You’re going to have some custard left over and put it down the center of those butter felo layers. And then we’re going to cut diagonal strips on the sides. So both sides are going to get an equal number of cuts. You want to go at a diagonal with a sharp knife. You can use a pastry wheel if you like or a pizza cutter, whatever you like, whatever is easy. And just cut down the sides. And then these strips are going to form the braid decoration on top. So, we’re going to take them one at a time and fold them over each other like I’m doing here. And then I’m going to carefully lift the parchment paper up and place it on the baking tray. And see that it’s so easy when you do it like this from the beginning. If you try to do it the other way, you’re going to need spatulas and dough scrapers and you’re going to end up with a mess on your hands. So, don’t skip that step. We’re going to brush the filow braid with the remaining butter. And again, we can make two of these. One can go in the freezer. I’m freezing one of them. The other one is going to go into the oven. The oven is preheated to 350° Fahrenheit. This is going to bake for between 50 to 60 minutes or until it’s golden brown all around and nice and crispy. As soon as it comes out of the oven, we’re going to pour the syrup on top. So, one braid gets half of the syrup, obviously. And then you have to wait and let it settle and cool to room temperature. That way the custard will have a time to absorb that syrup and then it’ll be easy to serve without having it falling apart. I love to serve this warm with some Greek coffee, of course. It’s so creamy, flaky, and buttery. And there you have it. The galacto budico braid is ready. It’s beautiful, stunning, and it’s pretty simple to make. I mean, if you follow my instructions step by step, you’ll end up with this gorgeous galtoico braid that everyone is going to love. It’s just so beautiful to look at. Of course, you can finish this off with some cinnamon on top. You can line the layers with a little bit of cinnamon sugar just to get some caramelized crunch in between just for some more sweetness and some more texture. It’s up to you, but it’s perfect as is. I hope you guys give this recipe a try. If you do, let me know how it came out in the comment section down below. To print this recipe out, you could head on over to the website, timitishes.com. Thank you so much for spending time with me today. If you want to learn how to make the classic Greek lactobico, click over here and I’ll see you right over there. Yeses.