You wrap a custard of milk and semolina in phyllo, bake it until the top is mahogany, then soak it in lemon syrup. The top shatters; the interior is a trembling set cream, scented with vanilla and zest. Many Greeks will tell you it is the better pie.
It belongs to the pastry shops of Athens and to Sunday kitchens. Semolina, not cornstarch, gives the custard its particular grain. It is baklava's quieter cousin — the piece eaten standing up, still a little warm.
Pour the cold syrup over the hot pie the moment it leaves the oven. Cool to room temperature before cutting, so the custard sets and the phyllo stays shatter-crisp on top.
Method
- 01
Put 1¾ cups of the sugar in a saucepan with the water, the cinnamon stick, and the lemon juice, and boil for 8 minutes, until slightly thickened and fragrant. Cool this syrup completely — cold syrup on hot pie, always. If you pour warm syrup on warm pastry, you will have a wet, defeated pie instead of a shatter-crisp top. Set it aside and forget it while you make the custard.
- 02
Heat the milk until it is steaming, not boiling. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with 1 cup of sugar, then whisk in the semolina. Pour in the hot milk, return everything to the pan, and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and pulls from the sides, about 8 minutes. Take it off the heat, stir in the vanilla and lemon zest, and cool it slightly, stirring now and then so a skin does not form.
- 03
Butter a 9 × 13 inch tin. Layer in 8 phyllo sheets, buttering each one and keeping the unused sheets under a damp cloth. Pour in the custard and spread it even, right to the corners. Cover with 8 more buttered sheets, score the top into squares with a sharp knife — through the upper phyllo only, so the steam can escape — and work quickly; phyllo waits for no one.
- 04
Bake at 340°F until the phyllo is mahogany-gold, 45 to 50 minutes. You want a deep, even color, darker than you might dare — pale phyllo means a soft top, and this pie is about shatter. If the edges brown too fast, tent them loosely with foil. The custard underneath will be trembling and just set, so trust the color of the pastry more than the clock.
- 05
The moment the pie leaves the oven, pour the cold syrup slowly over the hot pastry, letting it run into the scores — you will hear it drink. Cool the pie to room temperature before you cut; if you cut it hot, the custard will run and the phyllo will sog. Patience here gives you a trembling set cream under a shatter-crisp lid, scented with vanilla and lemon. That is the pie.
