Watching Kelly Michelakis, from ‘The Hellenic Odyssey’, cook and create in her kitchen brings everyone pure joy! Her passion for exploring Greece’s culinary delights is incredible and her ability to share her knowledge with others through her cooking classes in Melbourne and online, and her food tours in Melbourne and Crete, is inspirational. Taking people on an odyssey is what she does best!
Kelly’s Ekmek Kataifi is a traditional Greek dessert made up of three delicious layers - a crispy Kataifi Pastry base soaked in a sugar syrup, a layer of custard and a layer of fresh cream. You can learn how to make this delicious dessert by joining one of Kelly’s cooking classes. For more information on Kelly’s cooking classes and food tours visit her website: https://www.thehellenicodyssey.com.
Ingredients
Kataifi
375g Antoniou Kataifi Pastry
150g butter, chopped into small cubes
1/2 cup walnuts, crushed slightly
1 tsp cinnamon
Syrup
2.5 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 cinnamon quill
2 cloves
½ lemon juiced
Custard
1.25 litres milk
120g corn flour
200g sugar
4 eggs yolks
25g vanilla sugar
40g butter
Topping
1 tablespoon sugar
600ml thickened cream, chilled
1/2 cup walnuts, crushed
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Method
Before you begin this recipe, take your Kataifi Pastry out of the fridge to bring it up to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Making the syrup
Combine sugar, cinnamon and water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve. Once the syrup reaches boiling point, add the lemon juice and boil for 6-7 minutes. Remove from heat, discard the cinnamon quill and set aside to cool completely.
Making the Kataifi Pastry base
Separate the Kataifi Pastry with your hands, making sure there are no knots and it fluffs up.
Grease a baking pan with a little butter and spread Pastry evenly. Dollop pieces of butter on top of the Kataifi. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turn a little, mixing to coat with the butter and bake again for 10 minutes. Turn and bake again one final time until golden and crunchy.
Remove from the oven, sprinkle the walnuts and cinnamon on top and immediately pour the cool syrup over it with a ladle.
Making the custard
Reserve about 150 mls of the milk and set aside.
Warm the remaining milk in a saucepan over low heat.
Mix the sugar with the eggs and vanilla sugar until incorporated.
Mix the 150 mls milk together with the cornflour and stir until it is a smooth consistency, then add to the milk.
Take the milk off the heat & add one ladle of warm milk to the egg mixture, ensuring it combines well before adding the next.
Continue until all of the milk is used, then return the whole mixture to the saucepan and cook on low heat & stir continuously. This process will take 15-20 minutes. Once the mixture thickens and bubbles, turn off the heat and stir in the butter.
Pour the custard over the baked Kataifi and spread it evenly over the entire surface with a spatula. Refrigerate until it firms up.
Assembling the Ekmek Kataifi
In a mixer, add the chilled cream and sugar. Beat on high speed for a few minutes, until the whipped cream has formed stiff peaks.
Remove the Kataifi from the refrigerator and spread the whipped cream all over it with a spatula. Run the back side of a fork over the whole surface to create lines in the whipped cream. Sprinkle with crushed walnuts and cinnamon, and serve.
Kelly Michelakis, ‘The Hellenic Odyssey’
Watching Kelly Michelakis, from ‘The Hellenic Odyssey’, cook and create in her kitchen brings everyone pure joy! Her passion for exploring Greece’s culinary delights is incredible and her ability to share her knowledge with others through her cooking classes in Melbourne and online, and her food tours in Melbourne and Crete, is inspirational. Taking people on an odyssey is what she does best!
Kelly’s Ekmek Kataifi is a traditional Greek dessert made up of three delicious layers - a crispy Kataifi Pastry base soaked in a sugar syrup, a layer of custard and a layer of fresh cream. You can learn how to make this delicious dessert by joining one of Kelly’s cooking classes. For more information on Kelly’s cooking classes and food tours visit her website: https://www.thehellenicodyssey.com.
Follow Kelly
You can find out more about Kelly, and the cooking classes and food tours she runs by visiting her website: https://www.thehellenicodyssey.com.
You can also follow Kelly’s journey on her Instagram page, ‘thehellenicodyssey' and her Facebook page.