Ekmek Kadaifi (Pastry Topped With Custard and Whipped Cream)

By foodiva

Ingredients

• 1 lb frozen kadaifi (shredded wheat pastry, available in the freezer section of most good supermarkets, next to the phyll)
• 6 ounces butter, melted
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1⁄2 cups water
• 1 ⁄2 lemons, juice of or 1 cinnamon stick, in place of the citrus
• 1 ⁄2 fresh lemon rind
• 3 orange slices, with rind
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 ⁄2 cup sugar
• 4 cups milk (3 hot & 1 cold)
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 ounces whipped cream
• slivered toasted almonds or pistachios

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 25mins
Cooking time 65mins
Adapted from greek.food.com

Preparation

Step 1

Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees; pull apart the 'threads' of the kadaifi into a 13x9-inch glass baking dish, packing down lightly with fingertips; drizzle with butter and bake 40 minutes or until golden brown; remove from oven and cool.

In small pot, combine remaining crust ingredients; bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes; remove citrus rinds (if you don't want citrus, boil syrup with a cinnamon stick and remove); spoon syrup over kadaifi and cool.

Custard: Combine flour, cornstarch, and sugar in small bowl; add cold milk and whisk to remove any lumps; whisk in egg yolks; strain mixture through sieve into hot milk.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until it thickens; add vanilla and place plastic wrap directly on surface to prevent skin from forming; cool for 1 1/2 hours.

Spread custard evenly over kadaifi crust; refrigerate 1 1/2 to 2 hours minimum; then top with layer of whipped cream and decorate with slivered, toasted almonds or pistachios.

Chill well before serving.