Phyllo Pie with Condensed Milk and Raisins

Preparation

1. Thaw the dough. The package always says how. Usually it is enough to take the pack out of the freezer and leave it on the table for 45-60 mins. You can also thaw it in the microwave, but I don’t.

   

2. Prepare the pan, raisins and butter. Open the pack and unfold the dough. Take a round pan, preferably heat-proof glass, since metal gets hotter and overbakes the bottom of the pie. Grease the whole inside of the pan with a bit of butter, you need very little, literally 0.5 tsp. Soak the raisins ahead of time in hot water, to which you can add liqueur or brandy if you like, until they plump up. In the microwave, melt but don’t heat up the rest of the butter.

3. Make the filling: in a large deep bowl, mix 300 g of yogurt, two eggs and half a cup of cooled boiled water (100 ml), and whisk.

   

Shaping the pie

4. Make the central “rose”. Brush the top sheet of phyllo with melted butter. Don’t make it too “thick”. It is enough to dip the brush in the butter and sweep it across the whole sheet 5-6 times, even with sizable gaps. Take some of the soaked raisins and scatter them over the dough, again not too thickly. Then crumple the buttered sheet along the long side like an accordion. Note that you don’t roll it into a tube, you crumple it, even if it doesn’t look very neat. Roll the crumpled sheet into a loose, slightly airy roll along the short side, it will faintly resemble a rose, and place it in the center of the baking pan.

   

5. Arrange the remaining sheets in a circle. Brush the next sheet with butter, scatter a few raisins, crumple it like an accordion and wrap it around the first one in the pan, so the central “rosette” grows bigger. It is important not to crumple or wrap the sheets too tightly, the pie should be a bit airy and loose. Prepare and place all the sheets of dough in the pan this way, right up to the rim. Level the surface a little with your palms and brush the top of the pie with the rest of the butter.

   

Baking

6. Bake the pie without the filling for 15 mins: preheat the oven to 180°C, let it heat up fully, and put the pan on the middle rack. The dough with butter will warm up, and the butter will melt a little and coat the layers.

7. Pour in the filling. Meanwhile, whisk the mixture of eggs, water and yogurt again until it is smooth. Take the hot pan out of the oven and set it on a plate or a wooden board. Pour the filling into the pan. With the tip of a knife, push the layers of crumpled dough apart so the filling can run through, and do this generously, in many places. The dough is quite dry and the liquid will do it good. Ideally, there should not be a lot of liquid on top of the pie. Some of the filling can be poured along the edge of the pan.

   

8. Return the pan to the oven at the same 180°C. The filling usually sets in 35-40 mins. Go by the browning and by the surface no longer jiggling. The bottom of the pie may turn a pleasant light brown, it bakes through well.

   

Serving

9. Take the pie out of the oven and let it cool. Carefully remove the baked pie from the pan, transfer it to a board or plate and cut it into wedges, as you would a pizza.

10. Serve the pie cold or slightly warm, but not hot. Put a few pieces of pie on a serving plate. Pour condensed milk into a small sauce boat or bowl. Now all that’s left is to dip the pie into the condensed milk and eat. By the way, tea with lemon goes more than well with this pastry.

    

    When making the pie you can use not only raisins but also other dried berries or candied fruit, just soak them first. Don’t use fresh berries, they will leak and spread. Condensed milk is optional too: honey or jam will do. Or nothing at all, just dust with powdered sugar.