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Galatopita (Greek filo custard pie)

Name: Galatopita (Greek filo custard pie)
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: PT38-45M
Total time: 1 h 18 min
Yield: Serves 9
Cuisine: Greek recipes
Ingredients: 8 cardamom pods (or a good sprinkling of ground cinnamon or grated lemon zest); 300g caster sugar; Pinch saffron (optional); 100g unsalted butter; 250g filo sheets; 3 large free-range eggs; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 200ml whole milk; 200ml double cream; Specialist kit; 24cm square or round cake tin

By: Georgina Hayden

Published: 30 Apr 24
Updated: 30 Apr 24

Galatopita is a sweet and creamy milk pie from Greece. Georgina Hayden shares her recipe for this classic Greek pud, using golden filo pastry.

Georgina says: “The direct translation of galatopita is ‘milk pie’, which is quite a good indicator of the balance I was looking to achieve – the right level of cream versus syrup. Sweet, but not a smack-in-the-face sugar hit. There is a version of galatopita which has no filo, but I prefer this one. If you find using filo pastry intimidating, I urge you to give this a try – it’s a forgiving recipe, and custard and syrup help cover a multitude of sins.”

If you like this, you’ll love Georgina’s baklava semifreddo.

Easy
May 2024

Test kitchen approved

Serves 9
Hands-on time 40 min, plus cooling. Oven time 38-45 min

Galatopita is a sweet and creamy milk pie from Greece. Georgina Hayden shares her recipe for this classic Greek pud, using golden filo pastry.

If you like this, you’ll love Georgina’s baklava semifreddo.

Nutrition: Per serving

Calories: 445kcals
Fat: 25g (14g saturated)
Protein: 5.8g
Carbohydrates: 50g (35g sugars)
Fibre: 0.9g
Salt: 0.4g

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Ingredients

8 cardamom pods (or a good sprinkling of ground cinnamon or grated lemon zest)
300g caster sugar
Pinch saffron (optional)
100g unsalted butter
250g filo sheets
3 large free-range eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
200ml whole milk
200ml double cream

Specialist kit

24cm square or round cake tin

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Method

Crush the cardamom pods a little. Make a sugar syrup by putting 175g of the sugar in a saucepan with 125ml water and the crushed cardamom (or cinnamon/lemon zest) and saffron, if using. Bring to the boil, then simmer over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.
Heat the oven to 170°C fan/gas 5. Melt the butter in a small pan (or heatproof bowl in the microwave). Use a little of it to butter a 24cm square or round cake tin. Cover the filo with a slightly damp clean tea towel then, one by one, brush each sheet with butter and concertina the sheet lengthwise. Roll the first sheet into a rose and place in the centre of the cake tin. Continue filling the tin, wrapping the filo around the centre rose like a snail (in a square tin, you may need to make triangular filo flowers to fill in the corners). Brush all over with the remaining butter, then put in the oven for 20-25 minutes until deep golden.
Whisk the remaining 125g sugar with the eggs, vanilla extract and a pinch of fine sea salt. Slowly whisk in the milk and cream until smooth. When the filo is ready, pour over the custard, jiggling the pan to encourage it into all the folds, and return to the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until just set. Prick all over with a sharp knife and pour over the cooled sugar syrup. Leave to cool completely before serving.