Gianniotiko dessert is two sweets in one! That, in itself, is a little… extra.
Baklava phyllo and kataifi pastry together, with the only thing placed between them being a rich layer of walnuts.
My mother has been making Gianniotiko dessert for many years, and I think it is one of our favorite desserts at home.
In general, my mother really “has it” when it comes to syrup-soaked desserts, so she was “assigned” to make the Gianniotiko dessert too.
What matters most in syrup-soaked desserts is good-quality butter and proper syruping. This is true both for baklava and for saraglakia.
If you pay attention to these two things, then you will have made an amazing syrup-soaked dessert.
Ingredients
Syrup
- 500 g sugar
- 400 ml water
- 50 ml honey
- 50 ml glucose
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 250 g cow’s butter (melted)
- 250 g fresh goat-sheep butter (melted)
- 300 g ground walnuts
- 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- whole cloves for decoration
- lemon zest
- 1 shot glass cognac (optional)
- 10 phyllo sheets
- 400 g kataifi pastry
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Method
We start with the syrup.
In a small saucepan pour in the water, add the sugar, half a lemon and a cinnamon stick. Let them boil for two minutes. Add the glucose to the saucepan and let it boil for one minute.
Turn off the heat and add the honey. Stir and remove the saucepan from the heat, then leave the syrup aside to cool completely.
In a bowl add the ground walnuts. Add the cinnamon and the breadcrumbs and mix. Add the zest of half a lemon as well. If using it, you can add the cognac here too. Mix again.
Keep the phyllo pastry and kataifi next to you, along with the walnut mixture.
Butter well a baking tray measuring 35 by 25 cm.
Lay down the seven phyllo sheets, buttering between them. The first 4–5 sheets are laid singly, while the remaining ones up to 7 are laid double.
Once the bottom sheets are in place, spread half the quantity of kataifi, after first loosening it and fluffing it up with your fingers. Cover the entire surface.
Add a little butter over the kataifi.
Pour all the walnut mixture over the kataifi. Try to spread it evenly.
Cover the walnut layer with the remaining kataifi.
Butter again.
Cover with the remaining phyllo sheets, buttering between them. The top sheets of the dessert—in this particular tray—are laid double.
Score the dessert into pieces, in whatever size and shape you want.
Pour the remaining quantity of butter over the dessert.
Stick one clove into each piece.
Bake the dessert using top and bottom heat at 150–160°C for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
The dessert must bake at a low temperature for a long time.
Take the tray with the dessert out of the oven and, while it is still piping hot, pour the cold syrup over it.
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