Bougatsa with custard cream

Most people give me a weird look when I say that I do not like chocolate. On the contrary, I adore creamy desserts. Wrap some custard cream in crispy dough and you have served me a dessert that can make my heart melt. 

The recipe for bougatsa is fairly easy, given that the phyllo dough is readily bought. Professional bougatsa makers  roll their own dough, which is based on butter. The good quality of the butter as well as the refined rolling technique used to create the dough make the bougatsa special. Modern house cooks choose to purchase phyllo dough for the dessert, which normally does not contain any oil, but still makes a crispy result. 

 Let's see how to make this delightful dessert, home cooking style.

From the grocery store                           For flavor and serving

12 sheets of fyllo dough                             salt
5 cups  whole milk                                    vanilla extract
1/2 cup semolina flour                               orange zest or lemon zest or lime zest
1 cup sugar                                               confectioner's sugar
1 Tsp corn starch                                       ground cinnamon
1 container good quality butter

Put in a heavy pan the milk, semolina flour, corn starch and sugar. Turn the heat in medium and stir constantly until the mixture thickens. Do not stop stirring or else the milk will burn at the bottom of the pan and will give a bad smell to the mixture, plus it takes a lot of scrubbing to clean the pot.

When the mixture is thick turn off the heat and let it cool. While it is still warm add 3 Tsp of butter and the vanilla or the citrus zest. Stir to melt the butter.

In a small saucepan melt the rest of the butter in low heat. For better results clarify the butter, by removing the foam on the top and leave the water and white proteins at the bottom of the pan.

Take a big oven pan and sprinkle the bottom with a generous quantity of butter. Lay one fyllo sheet. Sprinkle the top of the sheet with more butter and lay another sheet. Repeat the process until you have six sheets at the bottom of the pan. Empty the custard cream on top of the sheets and cover with another fyllo sheet. Sprinkle with butter and alternate fyllo sheets with butter until you cover the pie with six sheets of dough. Fold the edges of the dough down  to create a sealed envelope for the custard. Sprinkle with more butter on top.

Bake the pie at 375oF (180oC) for 30 minutes or until the top becomes golden brown and crispy. The butter between the fyllo sheets with get hot in the oven and fry the dough to crisp perfection. Thus, be generous with the quantity of butter you sprinkle.

Serve by sprinkling it with confectioner's sugar and cinnamon. It is better enjoyed when it is still warm.