Hundreds of crunchy phyllo pockets, sprinkled with buttery pistachios, filled with a gorgeous lemon and mastic flavoured custard, and then finished with a divine mastic syrup with the subtle aroma of orange blossom water. This is such a phenomenal pie. It looks fantastic and tastes even better.

Shaping the rose with phyllo is very simple. Just make sure you will use a 14” (35cm) round cake pan. If you use a smaller pan, the custard won’t penetrate all the phyllo pockets and you may get dry spots in your pie (horror!). If you don’t have such a big pan you can use 2 x 9” cake pans and make 2 smaller pies. Usually frozen phyllo sheets come in 450 gram packages (at least where I live). So making half this recipe is not an option. Believe me, when you make this pie you will not want less of it anyway!

For my Orange flavour variation check out the Rose Phyllo Pie with Orange-Vanilla Custard.

For the Syrup:

• 2 cups water
• ½ cups lemon juice
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 mastic tears, crushed in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of sugar (you can use 1 tsp vanilla extract instead)
• 1 Tbs Orange Blossom water (optional)

For the phyllo pastry:

• 450 grams frozen phyllo pastry
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 cup unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped in a small blander

For the yogurt custard

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 packed Tbs lemon zest (you will need about 3 lemons)
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¾ cup olive oil
• 400 grams Greek yogurt
• 3 mastic tears, crushed in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of sugar (you can use 2 tsp vanilla extract instead)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder

Method:

First make the syrup by mixing together all ingredients in a saucepan, except the orange blossom water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Let syrup cool completely. Add the orange blossom water (if using) and transfer to the fridge until needed.

Prepare the phyllo pastry: Preheat oven to 160 C. Brush the base and sides of a 35cm (14”) round cake pan with olive oil. Melt the butter together with the ¼ cup olive oil in a small saucepan.

Separate one phyllo sheet and put it on a flat surface. Cover the remaining pastry sheets with a damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out. Lightly brush the surface of the phyllo sheet with the butter/oil mixture. Sprinkle all over 1 tablespoon chopped pistachios. Scrunch the phyllo sheet with your fingers to create plaids like an accordion. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect or if the phyllo breaks in places. Twist the folded phyllo to create a spiral Place in the centre of the prepared baking pan.

Continue with the remaining phyllo sheets, placing them around the middle spiral until you fill up the pan. Place pan in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes until pale golden. Take pan out of the oven and increase temperature to 175 C.

Prepare the filling while phyllo bakes. Beat eggs and sugar in the bowl of a mixer until light and fluffy. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, yogurt, crushed mastic and salt. Beat until combined. Add baking powder and beat lightly to mix.

Pour filling slowly over phyllo in pan making sure that all sheets are covered. Tap and shake pan lightly to help distribute the custard evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes until custard is set and pie is golden.

Remove pan from the oven. Using a large spoon, ladle the cold syrup all over the pie. It might look like it’s a lot but it’s not. The phyllo will absorb it like a sponge. Let the pie stand for a few minutes until no pools of syrup remain and the pie is left with just a beautiful shine. Sprinkle liberally with chopped pistachios. Cool completely before slicing and serving. It’s divine served with a scoop of vanilla or mastic ice cream.

{Printable}

Rose Phyllo Pie with Lemon-Mastic Custard and Orange-blossom Syrup 

For the Syrup:

• 2 cups water
• ½ cups lemon juice
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 mastic tears, crushed in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of sugar (you can use 1 tsp vanilla extract instead)
• 1 Tbs Orange Blossom water (optional)

For the phyllo pastry:

• 450 grams frozen phyllo pastry
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 cup unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped in a small blander

For the yogurt custard

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 packed Tbs lemon zest (you will need about 3 lemons)
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¾ cup olive oil
• 400 grams Greek yogurt
• 3 mastic tears, crushed in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of sugar (you can use 2 tsp vanilla extract instead)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder

Method:

First make the syrup by mixing together all ingredients in a saucepan, except the orange blossom water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Let syrup cool completely. Add the orange blossom water (if using) and transfer to the fridge until needed.

Prepare the phyllo pastry: Preheat oven to 160 C. Brush the base and sides of a 35cm (14”) round cake pan with olive oil. Melt the butter together with the ¼ cup olive oil in a small saucepan.

Separate one phyllo sheet and put it on a flat surface. Cover the remaining pastry sheets with a damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out. Lightly brush the surface of the phyllo sheet with the butter/oil mixture. Sprinkle all over 1 tablespoon chopped pistachios. Scrunch the phyllo sheet with your fingers to create plaids like an accordion. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect or if the phyllo breaks in places. Twist the folded phyllo to create a spiral Place in the centre of the prepared baking pan.

Continue with the remaining phyllo sheets, placing them around the middle spiral until you fill up the pan. Place pan in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes until pale golden. Take pan out of the oven and increase temperature to 175 C.

Prepare the filling while phyllo bakes. Beat eggs and sugar in the bowl of a mixer until light and fluffy. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, yogurt, crushed mastic and salt. Beat until combined. Add baking powder and beat lightly to mix.

Pour filling slowly over phyllo in pan making sure that all sheets are covered. Tap and shake pan lightly to help distribute the custard evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes until custard is set and pie is golden.

Remove pan from the oven. Using a large spoon, ladle the cold syrup all over the pie. It might look like it’s a lot but it’s not. The phyllo will absorb it like a sponge. Let the pie stand for a few minutes until no pools of syrup remain and the pie is left with just a beautiful shine. Sprinkle liberally with chopped pistachios. Cool completely before slicing and serving. It’s divine served with a scoop of vanilla or mastic ice cream.