Ruffle milk pie (or ruffled milk cake)

Don't you love easy, showy recipes that make us look like real cooking professionals with very little effort? I do. I adore them. Any recipe that is minimal effort and maximum wow factor goes straight into the bag to be tried. And if I like it, it gets added to my recipe collection ipso facto. That's the case with the ruffle milk pie recipe, wrinkled milk pie, ruffled or galatopita. The latter is the original name of the creation, of Greek origin, and it's absolutely divine.

The ruffle milk pie is a cake made with simple ingredients that is reminiscent of flan, except it has crispy layers of crunchy phyllo dough throughout. There's no trick to it. Perhaps the trickiest part is making sure the sheets of dough are always covered with a cloth so they don't dry out (which they do very quickly); other than that it's a breeze. Even folding the sheets isn't complicated, so set aside any prejudices and let's all make this surprising ruffle milk pie right away!

The quantities of the different ingredients are enough to fill a mold of 28 centimeters, in my case the Emile Henry one. If you use a different size you'll need to adjust them. In the original recipe for this cake powdered sugar and ground cinnamon are used to sprinkle after baking. I prefer to finish it with a honey-water glaze; I'll explain how to make it in the recipe.

Le Creuset ceramic ramekin, mini Le Creuset brush, Laura Ashley tea cup plates, Laura Ashley porcelain milk jug and round Emile Henry ceramic mold

Ingredients (for 8 servings)

• 7-9 sheets of phyllo dough
• 100 g of melted butter
• 4 eggs
• 150 g of sugar
• 400 ml of milk
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 lemon
• 100 g of honey
• 80 ml of water

Method

1. Using a silicone brush we brush the Emile Henry baking mold with melted butter, covering the base and sides well. Set aside.
2. Next we prepare the phyllo base of the cake. It's important to keep in mind that this dough dries quickly if left exposed to the air, so it's best to keep the sheets covered with a damp cloth and only uncover when you're ready to use one.
3. Place a sheet of phyllo dough on a large wooden board and brush the entire surface with melted butter. Flip it over and fold it along its wider side like an accordion. Roll it up and place it in the center of the mold. There's no need to press when folding or rolling; the dough should remain loose or slightly open inside the mold.
4. Repeat this with the remaining phyllo sheets, rolling them around and gradually increasing the circle. Use your fingers to separate the layers of phyllo slightly so they remain loose.
5. When the mold is filled, brush the surface with a little butter and put it in the oven, preheated to 180ºC with top and bottom heat, and bake for 20 minutes or until the phyllo is lightly golden and crispy. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
6. While the phyllo bakes, infuse the milk. Peel the lemon with a knife very sharp so you can remove only the yellow part of the peel without issue. Put it in a saucepan along with the cinnamon stick and the milk. Heat until it reaches boiling point, remove from heat and let cool slightly.
7. Beat the eggs in a deep bowl, add the sugar and beat again. Gradually add the milk, after removing and discarding the cinnamon stick and lemon peel, beating at the same time until you obtain a homogeneous mixture.
8. Pour the mixture over the baked phyllo, making sure it reaches all corners. Return to the oven and bake another 15-20 minutes at 180ºC, with top and bottom heat.
9. While the cake bakes for the second time prepare a honey-water glaze to brush on once it's done. Heat the honey and water in a saucepan and, when it begins to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
10. Remove the cake from the oven and brush it with the honey-water, ensuring you reach all corners. Serve any leftover glaze at the table in a little jugand drizzle it over the ruffle milk pie portions to add extra sweetness, flavor and juiciness.

Le Creuset ceramic ramekin, mini Le Creuset brush, Kitchen Craft ceramic pudding mold and round Emile Henry ceramic mold