Aunt Soph’s galaktoboureka recipe is a closely guarded secret, so I asked my cousin, Theo Michaels, for one instead. He was on the UK’s MasterChef and is now a well-known chef with his own cookbooks and everything, so if you ask me, he’s definitely a top-ranking cousin. Don’t forget to ask a grown-up for help with the oven, the stove, and the knife. You can check out more at theomichaels.com.
Ingredients
10 tablespoons butter, melted
1 package (250 g) phyllo dough (or 12 sheets)
For the Custard
4¼ cups whole milk
½ cup sugar, superfine or caster
2/3 cup cornmeal
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 vanilla pod, split lengthwise with seeds scraped out
For the Syrup
1¾ cups sugar, superfine or caster
1½ cups water
Dash of lemon juice
5 cloves
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make the custard, combine the milk, sugar, cornmeal, and egg yolks in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the vanilla seeds, and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly to make sure the mixture doesn’t boil. Once thickened, remove from heat and set aside to cool and firm.
For the syrup, combine the sugar, water, lemon juice, and cloves in a separate medium saucepan, stir to mix, then heat on low until the sugar has dissolved. Then, increase to medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened, then remove from heat and set aside to cool completely. Remove the cloves with a spoon.
Grease a 9-by-12 baking pan, then line the pan with a sheet of phyllo dough. Brush the dough generously with melted butter and layer another 5 sheets of phyllo dough on top of it, one at a time, brushing with plenty of melted butter between each layer.
Pour the thickened custard over the dough, and spread it gently with a rubber spatula into an even layer. Top the custard with another sheet of the phyllo dough, brushing generously with butter as before, and continue with another 5 sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet with butter after each addition.
If there is any excess dough around the edges, fold it back in toward the middle, and brush melted butter over the top. Using the tip of a sharp knife, score a diamond pattern into the top layer of phyllo. Splash some water over the pastry (wetting your hand and shaking it over the top of the dish) and bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. If the pastry starts to turn too dark, cover the pan loosely with foil (the bottom layers of phyllo should also crisp up, which takes longer than the top layers).
Remove the pan from the oven and let stand for 15 minutes, then pour the sugar syrup mixture over the top. Let it stand for about an hour so the syrup soaks in.
Cut into pieces along the scored lines and devour!