Ingredients
Makes 18-20
375g Antoniou Fillo Pastry
150g unsalted butter, melted
For the custard
2 cups milk
½ cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
100g unsalted butter
½ cup plain flour
For the syrup
1 ½ cups caster sugar
3 cups water
6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 ribbon of lemon or orange rind
Optional decoration
1/3 cup slithered almonds, toasted
Method
Before you begin this Fillo Pastry recipe, take your Filo Pastry out of the fridge to bring it up to room temperature in its packaging.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius fan forced.
To make the syrup
In a small pot combine all the syrup ingredients and place it over medium high heat. Allow to boil for up to 20 minutes or until the syrup has slightly thickened. Set aside.
To make the custard
In a pot, heat the milk and vanilla bean paste over medium heat but do not let it boil. In a bowl mix egg yolks and sugar until pale in colour. Stream in 3-4 ladles of the hot milk, whisking well between each addition. Add the egg and milk mixture back to the pot with the remaining milk whisking to combine (at this point the custard consistency remains thin). Transfer mixture to a pouring jug and set aside.
In the same pot, over medium to high heat, add the butter and flour to form a roux. Mix well to cook the flour. Pour the custard liquid in small amounts at a time whisking well, which will thicken between each addition.
Once thick and velvety with a stable consistency, cover with plastic wrap ensuring the plastic touches the surface of the custard. Set aside to cool.
To make the Fillo shells
Place a sheet of Fillo Pastry onto your work surface with the shorter end closest to you. Brush the sheet with butter and fold the right hand side toward the centre, then the left hand side on top, resulting in a long strip of Fillo Pastry that has formed 3 layers. Butter the Fillo Pastry strip, flip it around and brush the other side with butter.
Take the bottom right hand corner of the Fillo strip and fold it up to meet the left side of the pastry forming a triangle pattern. Continue folding upwards until you have reached the top (cutting off any excess if necessary).
Using a sharp knife, cut off 0.5mm of any side of the Fillo triangle and open it up with your hands. Place a little scrunched ball of baking paper inside to ensure it stays open whilst baking. Arrange on a large tray and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden in colour.
Allow them to cool for 5 minutes before removing the scrunched baking paper. Carefully dip each Trigona into the syrup making sure to pour some of the syrup in between the Fillo Pastry layers. Drain any excess syrup and set aside.
Assembling the Trigona
Transfer half of the custard to a piping bag and cut the tip of the piping bag so you have a hole approximately 1.5cm in diameter. Insert the piping bag into the trigona, squeeze whilst moving outward in a smooth motion for a seamless piped look. Repeat with remaining custard and Fillo Pastry shells.
Dip the custard end into the almonds and arrange on a platter.
Recipe, photography and video: Mary Politis from Mary’s Kouzina.
Learn how to make traditional Trigona from Thessaloniki.