Kataifi Recipe..A Greek Dessert!
Kataifi is a delicious dessert which is like baklava and is very popular among Greek, Turkish and Middle Eastern nations.We tasted it for the 1st time in Santorini during our recent trip to Greece. Ritesh missed eating it so much that he made this at home. I was totally bowled over it.
To make this dessert you need some patience and dedication as it has four major steps in preparation. The outcome is so awesome that you won’t mind spending those few hours.
Ingredients
Syrup
2 Cups Water
2 Cups Sugar
Rind of ½ lemon
Juice of ½ lemon
Kataifi Base
190 grams phyllo dough.
½ cup unsalted butter, melted.
Custard
2½ cups whole milk
2 large eggs
¼ cup fine semolina flour
1 tsp cornflour
¼ cup caster (superfine) sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Whipped Cream
2 cups whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cream stabilizer or powdered milk
3 tsp icing sugar or to taste
1 cup chopped unsalted pistachios for garnish
Method
Kataifi Base
Heat oven to 200C
Grease and line a loaf pan with baking paper
Tease pastry apart and press into the bottom of pan
Brush with melted butter and place in oven til golden brown, about 10 minutes
Syrup
Place sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Reduce head to medium and boil approximately 8 minutes until thick.
Remove from the heat and add lemon juice and lemon rind.
Pour hot syrup over cooled pastry base and set aside to cool
Custard
Place milk into a saucepan and heat until boiling.
In a large bowl add eggs, semolina, cornflour, sugar and vanilla and whisk well.
Temper the eggs by adding 3 ladles of hot milk into the eggs, whisking all the time.
Pour the tempered egg mixture into the milk and return to the heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Add coconut and stir.
Remove from the heat and place cling film on the surface of the custard and set aside to cool.
Pour cooled custard over cooled pastry and spread evenly. Leave at room temperature until fully cool and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Invert onto a plate and then invert again so the custard is on top and the pastry is on the bottom.
Whipped Cream
In a clean bowl add cream, icing sugar and vanilla and whip until thick enough to pipe
Place cream in an icing bag with a star tip and pipe rosettes to decorate.
Garnish with chopped pistachios.
Recipe from http://www.orgasmicchef.com/
