Greek Ekmek Kataifi

Greek Ekmek Kataifi - Custard and whipped topping dessert with syrup soaked pastry

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5 from 3 votes

Custard and whipped topping dessert with syrup soaked kataifi pastry base.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Chilling time4

Total Time5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Greek

Servings: servings

Calories: 645kcal

Author: Billie Bitzas

Equipment

1 10 x 14 inch baking pan
1 medium pot to prepare syrup
1 large pot to prepare custard
1 Whisk
1 Stand mixer with whisk attachment (or hand held mixer with whisk attachment) and a bowl.

Ingredients

For the syrup

4½ cups water
4 cups sugar
1 cinnamon stick

For the kataifi pastry base

1 pound kataifi pastry
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon

For the custard

1½ liters milk
7½ tbsp corn starch or Jotis vanilla pudding mix
½ tsp vanilla powder increase the amount to 1 tsp if you are using cornstarch instead of Jotis vanilla pudding mix.
3 tbsp butter
¾ cup sugar
7 large eggs

For the whipped topping

500 ml heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp cognac
1 cup chopped pistachios

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the syrup

Combine all the ingredients for the syrup into a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4½ cups water, 4 cups sugar, 1 cinnamon stick

Prepare the kataifi layer

Preheat oven to 350 °F
Butter the bottom and sides of a 10 x 14 inch baking pan.
Using your hands pull apart the kataifi strands so that you do not have any compact clumps of kataifi dough. The dough should be loose and pulled apart. Place in baking pan and spread evenly. See Recipe Note.
1 pound kataifi pastry
Drizzle the melted butter over the kataifi dough and use your hands to toss the dough a bit so that the butter is dispersed throughout the kataifi. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake in middle rack of oven for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven.
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted, 1 tsp cinnamon
As soon as you remove the kataifi dough from the oven pour the room temperature syrup over it. Use the back of a spoon to press down on the kataifi dough to make it compact, and even. Set aside ideally for a few hours at room temperature before making the custard filling. You can even leave it overnight. See Recipe Note.

To make the custard filling

In a large pot combine your milk, butter, sugar, vanilla and corn starch or Jotis vanilla pudding powder.
1½ liters milk, 3 tbsp butter, ¾ cup sugar, ½ tsp vanilla powder, 7½ tbsp corn starch or Jotis vanilla pudding mix
Whisk your eggs together in a bowl so that the whites and yolks are combined. Pour into the pot with the milk.
7 large eggs
Bring the heat up to medium and cook your custard for approximately 10 minutes or until thickened. Stir constantly with a whisk during this time to prevent the custard from burning. See video here.
Once your custard is thickened, pour it over the syrup-soaked kataifi. Spread it evenly over the kataifi. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 to 3 hours until the custard is set. See Recipe Note.

To make the whipped topping

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a hand held mixer) combine the whipping cream, icing sugar and cognac. Whip until you can create peaks with the cream. Spread evenly over the cooled and set custard filling and then top with the chopped pistachios. Return to refrigerator to set for at least 30 minutes before serving.
500 ml heavy whipping cream, 2 tbsp icing sugar, 2 tbsp cognac, 1 cup chopped pistachios

Notes

Preparing your kataifi dough: Kataifi is usually sold as a compact mass; you need to pull it apart in order to make it fluffy and for the individual thin strands to be separated out. Use your hands to pull it apart so that you don't have any compact clumps of kataifi left. Do not worry about tearing it!

When pouring the syrup over the hot kataifi pastry be sure that the syrup is at room temperature or slightly warm - not cold. If you use a glass baking pan the way I do, too extreme a temperature difference can break your pan.

Allow the kataifi and syrup to sit for a few hours at room temperature. You want all of the syrup to be absorbed by the kataifi dough and to set before adding the custard.

Remove moisture from custard - After chilling your custard you may find that there is some water from condensation that has accumulated on its surface. This is most likely to happen if you covered your still warm custard before placing it in the refrigerator. Use paper towels to gently dab the surface of your custard to remove the moisture before adding the whipped topping.

Nutrition