Caramelized Galatopita, is a twist to the simple and easy Greek dessert, made with milk, eggs, semolina, butter and vanilla, which is baked in the oven.
The post have been updated with a new Galatopita with Caramel and Chocolate. You will find the recipe at the end.
Galatopita, (pr. Gha-lah-TOH-pee-tah) comes from the Greek words “Gala”, which means milk and “Pita”, which means pie.
It is a simple semolina milk pudding baked in the oven. The traditional recipe is made with ewes’ milk but you can make it with any milk you like.
It’s origin is from antiquity and the Ancient Greek dessert was named “άμης” (Amis, genitive amitos) , mentioned in Aristophanes’, Ploutos 981, Antiphon In “Dysprato” 1, Menand . en “Ypovolimaio 11”, etc.
How I made the Caramelized Galatopita
I’ve posted a recipe of Galatopita in the past, using phyllo and adding syrup, but this time I decided to make it more traditional, but still making a few tweaks of my own.
In the first recipe I used fresh milk and in the second I used sweetened condensed milk.
Living in a small village, I usually keep some ingredients which may prove handy, just in case I need to make something and cannot go to Nafplio to buy the ingredients, on that day.
One of these ingredients is sweetened condensed milk. This milk is rich and thick and when we were kids and wanted to eat something sweet, we would put some butter on a slice of bread and top it with condensed milk!
You can substitute 1 litre fresh milk and amount of sugar in a recipe with 1 can condensed sweetened milk and 1 litre water.
This milk is great in puddings as it also adds a slightly caramelized flavour when baked.
To enhance the caramel flavour, I brushed some butter on the Pyrex and sprinkled some sugar on top. During baking the sugar caramelizes, thus adding more caramel flavour to the dessert.
The result is just amazing and don’t think that the dessert becomes overly sweet but perfectly balanced with the the flavour of vanilla and caramel prevailing.
However, as I wanted a more intense caramel flavour, the second time I made it, I made the caramel from scratch.
One day there was some leftover milk, which was about to expire, so I made this dessert in no time.
Although the traditional recipe is made with sheep milk, which gives a rather distinct flavour, it is difficult to find this milk unless you know a shepherd.
Galatopita with Fresh Milk
Galatopita is still is good with fresh cows’ milk and we love the addition of the caramel, which I used in the previous recipe, so I added it here as well.
The difference here is the burst of citrus flavour, as I added lemon zest and citrus essence which made an equally delicious dessert.
Galatopita with fresh milk
Galatopita is a simple Greek semolina milk pudding baked in the oven The traditional recipe is made with ewes' milk but you can make it with any milk you like.
Ingredients
- 6 cups whole milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup fine semolina
- 5 tbsp corn flour (starch)
- 6 large eggs
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp butter
- Butter to grease the pan, sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on it
- Icing sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Whisk the eggs with half of the sugar with a hand mixer or a balloon whisk for 3 - 4 minutes.
- In a small pot, heat half of the milk with the remaining sugar, mixing so that it will dissolve.
- In a bigger pot add the remaining cold milk, the whisked eggs, the corn flour, the semolina the salt and lemon zest. Whisk until incorporated Add the hot milk, whisking continuously Put it on the heat and continue mixing until the cream sets Add the butter and lemon essence and mix to incorporate.
- Preheat oven to 180o C.
- Grease a 22 Χ 35 cm Pyrex with butter and sprinkle some crystal or brown sugar (about 2 tbsp) and some cinnamon.
- Add the cream and with a spatula make it even on top.
- Bake for approximately 40 - 45 minutes, or until the top starts to brown.
- Let the cream on a rack to cool so that the cream sets before cutting.
- Serve with icing sugar and cinnamon on top.
Notes
If you want to invert the dessert, you should do it while the dessert is still warm, otherwise the caramel will become hard and it will stick to the bottom of the pan.
Nutrition Information
Yield 16 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 242Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 95mgSodium 98mgCarbohydrates 37gFiber 1gSugar 28gProtein 7g
Another time, in the cream I added orange essence instead of vanilla and served it with a slice of Orange preserve. The taste was even better!
Update: 23rd February, 2022
Galatopita with Caramel and Chocolate
The basic recipe is the same. In this recipe, I made it with fresh milk, as per the recipe above. If you want to make it with condensed sweetened milk, you will fin the recipe below.
To make the caramel from scratch you can watch the video in my other post.
Galatopita with Caramel and Chocolate
In this recipe, I used:
For the pudding:
1 litre whole milk
150 grams sugar
4 large eggs
A pinch of salt
160 grams fine semolina
1 tbsp lemon zest
½ tsp vanilla essence
The instructions are the same as the other recipes.
For the Caramel:
- 200 grams sugar
- 1/8 cup lemon juice (you can use water if you like)
- Put the sugar and lemon juice in a small non-stick frying pan and cook on medium heat until the sugar melts.
- Stir constantly until the sugar starts turning into a deep amber colour.
Pour the Caramel in a Pyrex and add the pudding on top.
While the pudding is still hot, cut a block of some chocolate (I used about 50 grams dark chocolate) and draw lines to make the pattern on top.
Bake in a preheated oven to 180o C for about 30 minutes, until it becomes slightly golden on top.
The result was a richer caramel flavour and the chocolate on top brough this dessert to a different level.
Galatopita with condensed sweetened milk
Galatopita (pr. Gha-lah-TOH-pee-tah), comes from the Greek words “Gala”, which means milk and “Pita”, which means pie It is a simple semolina milk pudding baked in the oven The traditional recipe is made with ewes' milk but you can make it with any milk you like.
Ingredients
- 1 can (397 grams) condensed, sweetened milk
- 4 cups water
- 4 large eggs
- A pinch of salt
- 1 cup semolina (3/4 cup fine - ¼ cup coarse)
- 20 grams butter
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
For the baking tin:
- 20 grams butter
- ¼ cup sugar
To serve:
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180o C or 160o C for a convection oven.
- Grease a 25.5 Χ 17.5 cm Pyrex with butter. (If the butter is too cold, put it in the Pyrex and then in the oven, while it is being preheated). When it melts, sprinkle with the sugar.
- Meanwhile, heat the water.
- In a larger pot, put the eggs, milk, semolina and salt and mix to combine, using a balloon whisk.
- Add the water, mixing quickly with the balloon whisk and then put the pot on the heat. Stir continuously until the pudding comes to boiling point.
- Remove from the heat and mix in the butter and vanilla.
- Empty the pudding in the Pyrex and put it in the middle rack of the oven.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, until it becomes slightly golden on top. Turn on the grill and air and bake for about ten more minutes, until it becomes golden brown on top.
- Remove on a rack until it is lukewarm. Pass a knife around the edges and invert the dessert in a platter.
- Sprinkle with some icing sugar and ground cinnamon on top.
- Serve warm, or at room temperature.
Notes
If you will invert the dessert, you should do it while the dessert is still warm, otherwise the caramel will become hard and it will stick to the bottom of the pan.
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 195Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 106mgSodium 105mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 1gSugar 8gProtein 7g
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!
Angie
Monday 25th of April 2016
I have never had anything like this... it looks so tempting!
Rosa
Friday 22nd of April 2016
Heavenly! I'll have to try this recipe soon.
Cheers,
Rosa