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Sweet bougatsa with homemade ‘Milko’

Name: Sweet bougatsa with homemade ‘Milko’
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 1 h 2 min
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: Greek recipes
Ingredients: For the chocolate milk; 800ml milk; 50g cocoa powder; 30g honey; 60g caster sugar; For the pastry cream; 1 litre milk; 300g caster sugar; 8 egg yolks; 60g fine semolina; 60g cornflour; 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out, or 1–2 teaspoons vanilla extract; Grated zest of 1 lemon; Grated zest of 1 orange; For the filo; 500g filo pastry; 200g butter, melted; To serve; Icing sugar; Ground cinnamon

By: Christina Mouroglou

Published: 19 Apr 18
Updated: 18 Mar 24

This recipe is from Christina Mouroglou’s cookbook, Mazi: Modern Greek Food. A northern Greece speciality, bougatsa can be either savoury, made with creamy feta cheese, or sweet, made with custard, cinnamon and icing sugar, typically eaten in the morning with a side of chocolate milk.

Lisa Faulkner’s Greek custard tart is similar to this one but it is baked for longer, for a firmer set custard.

A challenge
May 2018

Test kitchen approved

Serves 8
Hands-on time 45 min, Oven time 15-17 min

Lisa Faulkner’s Greek custard tart is similar to this one but it is baked for longer, for a firmer set custard.

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Ingredients

For the chocolate milk

800ml milk
50g cocoa powder
30g honey
60g caster sugar

For the pastry cream

1 litre milk
300g caster sugar
8 egg yolks
60g fine semolina
60g cornflour
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out, or 1–2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange

For the filo

500g filo pastry
200g butter, melted

To serve

Icing sugar
Ground cinnamon

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Method

First make the chocolate milk. Put the milk and cocoa powder in a saucepan over a medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring. Add the honey and sugar and continue to heat, stirring constantly, until they have dissolved. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Then pour into a clean bottle and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
For the pastry cream, put the milk and half the sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
Meanwhile, using a balloon whisk, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar in a heatproof bowl until well combined, then whisk in the semolina and cornflour until smooth. Add the vanilla and citrus zest and whisk again.

While whisking constantly, add the hot milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture in a slow, steady stream until well blended. Then pour the mixture back into the saucepan over a medium heat and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 240°C (475°F), Gas Mark 9. Lay 3 filo pastry sheets, one on top of the other, in the base of a large shallow baking tin, about 35 x 40cm (14 x 16 inches), brushing each with melted butter as you stack them. Pour in the pastry cream and spread it out in an even layer. Cover with another 3 filo pastry sheets, again brushing each with melted butter. Fold in the overhanging filo around the edges of the baking tin, making sure there are no holes, to make it look like a sealed parcel.Brush the top well with butter and bake for 15–17 minutes until golden.
Remove the bougatsa from the oven and cut the parcel into small squarish portions. Sprinkle with lots of icing sugar and cinnamon and serve hot with a glass of the cold chocolate milk.