Bougatsa

Bougatsa is my favorite Greek dessert of all time! It's a creamy custard dessert that is wrapped in filo and dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon.  It's delicious any time of day; try it for breakfast, as a mid day snack, or after dinner dessert. It goes perfectly with a cup of coffee or a tall glass of milk. In a word, it's PERFECT. Here is what you will need to make this delicious dessert:

6 cups whole milk
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
peel of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup semolina
4 eggs
1.5 cups sugar
1 box filo
1 stick of butter, melted, to brush on filo
powdered sugar and cinnamon for topping

Start by making the custard filling.  While it's not difficult to make per se, it takes some time and hard work (this definitely counts as my upper body workout for the day!).  You need to constantly stir the milk to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot or clump up.  With that said, it's not difficult to do at all.  Just make sure you're not cooking something else at the same time that will need your attention, since you need to pay attention to the custard to ensure it doesn't stick.  I use a large pot and start by heating up the milk.  Put the pot on medium heat; nothing too hot to scald the milk.  As soon as you pour the milk into the pot, continually stir with a whisk.  Once it starts to heat up, add the peel of 1 lemon and 2 tbsp. butter and stir until it melts. Add vanilla extract. Slowly add 1 cup semolina; again stirring continuously.  Then add 1 cup sugar, stirring continuously.  Once all ingredients are added, keep stirring for another 10 minutes or until custard thickens.  It will take about 20 minutes total to make this custard (10 minutes to heat milk and add all ingredients, and another 10 to allow it to thicken). Once the custard is thick enough to coat the sides of the pot and whisk (your arm will notice when it gets thick!), take the pot off the heat, and continue stirring for custard to begin cooling. Don't let custard sit for 10 minutes, make sure you check on it and stir every couple of minutes.  While waiting for it to cool, crack 4 eggs into a bowl, add 1/2 cup sugar, and whisk together.  Once custard has cooled off (about 10 minutes after taking off heat), slowly add egg and sugar mixture while continuing to stir.

 Congratulations! the tedious part is done; now for the filo.  I use a large baking pan and brush with some of the melted butter to ensure it doesn't stick. Carefully unwrap filo dough and arrange in pan to cover bottom; make sure there is some overhang on the edges to wrap up once you put the custard in. Basically, I brush the filo with melted butter with every layer added to the pan; make sure to get the especially dry pieces.  There is no 'right' way to do this; just keep layering the filo to cover all parts of the pan and have overhang, and brush with butter with each new layer.  You will use 1/2 of the filo for the bottom part of the Bougatsa.  Once you have completed the bottom half, take the lemon peel out of the custard and pour into pan.  Now you can arrange the 2nd half of the filo dough on top of the custard in the same manner as you did the bottom half, making sure to butter each new layer. (I went through 1.5 sticks; I said this was delicious, not fat free!).  Once all the filo has been used, carefully fold over the edges to wrap up the Bougatsa. Again there is no right or wrong way to do this.  I actually cut off some excess/dry filo and gathered the rest on the edges to make a 'crust'.  Brush the top of the filo with more melted butter, concentrating on the edges which will dry out the most.





 Put the finished product into a preheated oven at 350 degrees Farenheit, and bake for 40-45 minutes or until top of filo has turned golden.  Once it is done baking, let it cool for at least an hour before cutting and serving (this allows the custard to settle).  Then dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon, and serve! Kali Oreksi!