Pronounced ‘ga-lah-kto-BOU-re-koh’, not ‘Galactic Bourek-o’, this slice is easier made than said – and with one bite into the buttery, flaky filo filled with sweet semolina custard, it’ll be even easier to see why it’s such a popular Greek treat. Go the extra effort and make fresh filo for this pie.
Serves 16
WHAT YOU NEED
100g vegan butter melted but not hot
Up to 375g store-bought vegan filo
For the spiced syrup
300g granulated white sugar
zest and juice of 1 small lemon
½ cinnamon stick
4 cloves
For the semolina custard
80ml cold aquafaba
165g caster (superfine) sugar
1 litre soy or oat milk
2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch)
pinch of fine salt
1½ teaspoons natural vanilla extract
160g semolina (plus a little extra, if needed, to make a thick custard)
15g vegan butter a few drops of vegan yellow food colouring (optional, for aesthetics)
WHAT TO DO
To make the syrup
Combine the sugar and 180ml of water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Bring to the boil, then add the other syrup ingredients.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, without stirring. Remove from the heat and discard the cinnamon stick and cloves. Set aside to cool.
For the semolina custard
Place the aquafaba in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attached and beat on high speed until it froths and rises.
Continuing to beat on high speed, slowly pour in 75 g (2¾ oz) of the caster sugar and beat for about 5 minutes, until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Whisk together the milk, cornflour, salt and remaining caster sugar in a saucepan then bring just to the boil. Add the vanilla, then stir constantly as you add the semolina – as slowly as you can – and turn the heat to low.
Continue to stir while adding the butter, and food colouring, if using, then remove from the heat. Set aside and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C. Brush a large baking tray with some of the melted butter and set aside.
Slowly fold the aquafaba mixture into the cooled semolina and mix well. (If your semolina mixture is too warm, your whipped aquafaba may deflate!)
Place two sheets of filo pastry on the buttered baking tray, splattering with butter between the layers.
Top with another filo sheet, but leave half of it hanging out over one edge of the tray.
Splatter with more butter, place another sheet squarely over the base filo, then splatter with more butter.
Repeat this process so that there is half a pastry sheet hanging out of each of the four edges of the pan, with an alternating sheet between each that lines up with the base filo. It shouldn’t surprise you by now that you should splatter the layers with melted butter each time.
Pour the custard mixture over the central filo sheets, then fold over each of the overhanging filo sheets and splatter with more butter. Add two more sheets of buttered filo on top, then use a sharp knife to score the top into 16 squares.
Transfer the tray to the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C and bake for 50–60 minutes, until the pastry is golden.
Remove from the oven and immediately pour the cold syrup over the hot pastry, allowing it to absorb into the top.
Allow to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing into portions along the pre-scored lines.
Your galaktoboureko will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, and can be served warm or cold.
She’ll be apples
Add a layer of cooked apple slices over the custard filling before wrapping in filo, dust loads of icing (confectioners’) sugar over the top after baking and you’ll have a delightful apple and custard pie to serve instead
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