Easter has come and GONE, but as always most Greek households are full of left over "tsoureki" bread. No worries folks. Hellasfrappe has the perfect solution. We have a recipe for leftover tsoureki bread for you to try, and trust us... the results are to die for and nothing more than sheer heaven. If on the other you are dieting after stuffing your faces with lamb at the weekend, then stay away from this recipe because it is not calorie friendly.
Piraeus Tsourekei EKMEK
Ingredients
10 large slices of stale tsoureki bread
For the syrup:
2 cups of granulated sugar
2 cups of water
Peel of one lemon
1 cinnamon stick
For the cream:
1 ½ cups of fresh milk
2/3 cups of heavy cream
1 cup of sugar
40gr of corn flour
1 egg
3 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
To garnish:
250gr whipping cream
1 tsp. dusting sugar
(masticha liquor - optional)
Various nuts (almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts work best)
Procedure
First we begin making the syrup. Add all ingredients in a pot and when it allow it to boil for 10 minutes only after you see it begin boiling. In a glass Pyrex baking dish we place the tsoureki slices and are careful not to leave any open spaces or holes anywhere. The bottom has to be completely covered. Once the syrup is done we spoon the syrup over the tsoureki slices until it is completely absorbed and we sprinkle the bottom of the dish with a handful of nuts and some cinnamon powder. Our base is done.
In a separate bowl we begin mixing our eggs with the sugar. until they turn white and thick in consistency (about ten minutes). We add the corn flour, and continue mixing. We then warm our milk. Once it gets hot -BUT HAS NOT YET BOILED - we mix half of the liquid into the egg mixture very, very slowly. We then take the other half of the milk mixture, add our cream, and vanilla and place back on the burner. As soon as they begin to boil we slowly add the egg mixture to the pot of milk. and we lower the hear whisking continuously. The result will be a very delicate smooth creme. Take it off the heat and allow it cool for a little bit remembering to cover the pot because a crust will form on top of the custard. After about 10 minutes, cover it with plastic foil because the crust will harden and you want your custard to remain damp. When your custard is nearly at room temperature, then whip it up a bit, removing any pieces that might of formed a crust and spoon it over your the tsoureki in the baking dish. Place the dish in the refrigerator and allow it to set for at least 3-4 hours covered.
Before serving beat up some whipping cream. with sugar until you achieve a very thick consistency and add some liqor to flavor it. You can then slowly frost the custard cake (only on the top) with the whipping cream and garnish with the nuts. It is heaven.
Posts
