Bougatsa (pronounced as “bu-ga-tsa”) is a Greek pastry that can have many different kinds of fillings between layers of phyllo sheets. One of the most common Bougatsa recipes is with custard and cinnamon, but it can also be filled with minced meat or cheese.
The Bougatsa we made this time is the one with creamy custard and cinnamon. This is also Mr. 197’s favorite kind of Bougatsa. He always says the best Greek breakfast for him is to have a piece of Bougatsa and a glass of cold chocolate milk. Greeks like to have Bougatsa for breakfast, but it can also be a snack throughout the day.
When we visit Greece, we sometimes go and buy Bougatsa from shops for breakfast. But since there’s no Bougatsa shop around in Germany, we have to make our own. Making your own Bougatsa is not very complicated, as long as you nail the custard part, the rests are just a piece of cake.
What I personally like the most with Bougatsa is the thin sheets of phyllo. When you cut the pie, or put a piece of Bougatsa in your mouth, the sound of the crispy phyllo is the BEST! If you never try Greek Bougatsa with custard (and some chocolate milk), we bet you will like it too!
Bougatsa
Equipment
- Baking pan 28cm x 18cm
Ingredients
- 720 mL Milk
- 120 g Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg yolk
- 60 g Semolina flour
- Lemon zest ½ small lemon
- Vanilla essence
- 7 sheets Phyllo Cut in half
- 90 g Butter
- Ground cinnamon
- Icing sugar
Instructions
Prepare Custard
- Add 720mL of milk to a small pot. Warm the milk up a bit, it doesn't need to be boiling, around body temperature is good.
- Separate the yolk from 1 egg.
- Add the yolk, 1 egg, and 120g sugar to a large mixing bowl.
- Start mixing with a hand mixer with low speed until sugar and egg combined. Increase to high speed and beat for 3-4 mins or until it turns pale.
- Add 60g semolina flour, and start mixing at low speed.
- Add some vanilla essence, mix well.
- Add the warm milk in a few separate batches, mix at low speed. Make sure the speed is the lowest, otherwise it will spill and get super messy! Also, the milk is not too hot or too cold, if the milk is too hot, it will cook the egg.
- Zest ½ small lemon.
- Pour the mixture into a small pot and turn the heat to medium.
- Keep mixing until it becomes thick.
Assemble
- Melt 90g butter.
- Pre-heat the oven at 180°C.
- Brush a layer of melted butter at the base of the baking tin.
- Add a layer of phyllo on top, brush some butter on top, and repeat until you've put 7 layers of phyllo sheet.
- Pour the custard on top.
- Add a layer of phyllo, brush some butter. Repeat until you put another 7 layers of phyllo sheet.
- Close the edge by rolling and tucking the phyllo sheets towards the center.
- Brush more butter on the edge.
- Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the top turns golden.
- Cool it down a bit before transferring it to the cutting board.
- Sprinkle grounded cinnamon and icing sugar on top.
- Cut it into smaller rectangles, ready to serve with a glass of chocolate milk!