Greek Ekmek kadayifi
One of my favourite desserts of all time. The Greek version of this gorgeous dessert is a layer of syrup soaked kadayifi pastry, topped with luscious pastry cream, covered with whipped cream and delicious pistachios. It’s a slice of heaven. Honest.
Ingredients
For the syrup
- 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar, 500 grams
- 2 cups 500 ml water
- Half a lemon peel
- 1 Tbsp of lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp of honey
For the kadaif
- 300 grams Kadayifi pastry
- 85 grams melted butter
For the pastry cream
- 5 cups 1250 ml whole milk
- 1 cup 250 ml heavy cream
- 8 Tbsp 85 g cornflour
- 9 Tbsp 200 g granulated sugar
- 3 mastic tears, crushed with 1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract, or 2 sachets vanilla powder
- 3 whole eggs + 5 egg yolks
- 85 g unsalted butter
For the topping
- 1 ¾ cup 400 ml heavy cream
- 1/3 cup icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract, or 1 sachet vanilla powder
- 2 Tbsp pistachios, coarsely ground
Instructions
- First make the syrup by mixing all the ingredients except the honey, in a small saucepan. Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the honey. Allow the syrup to cool completely.
- Preheat the oven to 160 C. Butter a 25 x 35 cm oven proof dish with the melted butter.
- Separate the kadaif pastry strands and mix well with the melted butter. Put it in oven proof dish and spread it out to cover the base. Bake for 55-65 minutes until it is golden brown. Remove from the oven and pour the cold syrup over it. Allow to rest for about 30 minutes.
- Make the pastry cream. Put 1 cup of the milk in a bowl. Add the corn flour to the bowl and stir to dissolve. Place the remaining milk, cream and the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Put the yolks, whole eggs, the vanilla and corn flour into a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Transfer the entire mixture through a sieve, back into the saucepan and add the crushed mastic. Whisk over medium heat until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Stir quickly for 1 minute and remove from the heat. Add the butter and stir until melted and incorporated.
- Pour the cream over the kadaif, spreading evenly. Cover with plastic wrap which should touch the surface of the cream to prevent it from forming a skin. Allow to cool completely. Transfer the dessert to the refrigerator to cool thoroughly.
- Whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla until thickened. Spread over the cooled pastry cream and sprinkle with pistachios.