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Definition: Phyllo

YumSugar — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:00:31 -0700

An unleavened dough made of flour, water, and oil spread into paper-thin sheets, phyllo (or filo) is characterized by crispiness and flakiness. Although it is traditionally made by hand using an exacting technique, today phyllo is typically produced by machine and sold frozen. It figures prominently into Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, and is a key component in Greek dishes such as baklava and spanakopita.

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Bite-Size Pumpkin Pies With a Baklava Twist

YumSugar — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 08:00:46 -0800

After drooling over Party's pumpkin cake and these pumpkin pies, I wanted to experiment with my own unique concoction: a traditional pumpkin pie filling with baklava-inspired crust and streusel topping. With a belly full of Thanksgiving fixings, eating a whole piece of pie can be a rather daunting task, so I made bite-size pies to satisfy everyone's sweet tooth. The pumpkin pie filling and walnut-oatmeal streusel are simple to make, but the cinnamon-sugar phyllo cups are more time consuming due to the very delicate nature of phyllo. All three of the components can be made in advance and quickly assembled and baked the day of, prior to serving. These mini pies are light, crunchy, and nutty with a scrumptious creamy pumpkin pie filling! To make your own tiny pumpkin pies with a baklava twist, read more.

Bite-Size Pumpkin Pies With Baklava Crust
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living magazine

Ingredients

Walnut-Oatmeal Streusel
6 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
3 1/2 tablespoons flour
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon honey
Phyllo Crust
5 sheets of phyllo, thawed and room temperature
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Pumpkin Pie Filling
7.5 ounces solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/8 cup honey
1 egg
1/8 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

Make the walnut-oatmeal streusel: Preheat oven to 350. Combine oats, walnuts, flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in honey. Stir into oat mixture.
Spread streusel on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally until light gold and crunchy, 12 to 15 minutes.
Let cool on baking sheet on a wire rack. Streusel will keep, covered for up to 3 days.
Make the phyllo crust: Preheat oven to 350. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Gently place one layer of phyllo dough on a large cutting board. Brush with a thin layer of butter and sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture. Repeat this step five times until all 5 sheets have been used.
Cut phyllo into 2 by 2 inch squares. Remove each square and gently press and fold the edges into the mini muffin tin. Bake for 5-8 minutes until phyllo cups are golden.
Make the pumpkin pie filling: combine pumpkin, brown sugar, honey, egg, cream, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger in a large bowl.
Sprinkle a bit of streusel in the bottom of each phyllo cup. Spoon in a small amount of pumpkin pie filling in each phyllo cup. Bake at 350°F 15-20 minutes until the pumpkin filling is firm.
Sprinkle a little strusel on each and serve warm.

Makes 30 bite-size pies.

Print recipe with images | without images

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52 Weeks of Baking: Experiments in Phyllo

YumSugar — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:02:31 -0700

I thought about skipping out on this week's 52 weeks of baking (I'm actually making cupcakes for Jimmy's birthday tomorrow, and I thought I'd double-up and have two for next week). However, 51 weeks of baking just doesn't have quite the same ring to it, so I ponied up and took the time between Top Model (secret vice) and Lost (not-so secret vice) to head to my kitchen and see what I could whip up.I contemplated making crackers, cookies, or muffins, but Molly's on vacation (and I know she'd be sad to miss out on the in-office treats), so I decided to try some phyllo dough experiments instead. Earlier in the week I had been inspired by these beautiful herbed phyllo breadsticks (I'm not the only one, this post is from over a year ago, and yet it's appearing on a bunch of blogs now) and wanted to see if I could make something similar. I ended up with a few different phyllo "breadsticks" and one "tomato pie."

To check out what I did, read more

No real recipes this time, this was just me playing around with phyllo dough (which, for those of you who don't know, is paper-thin sheets of pastry dough that can be found in the freezer section of your supermarket). My first experiment was to take one sheet of dough, lay it open on a flat surface, brush melted butter on half (lengthwise), spread out some fresh basil (on the half with butter), scatter some parmesan cheese on top of that, fold the other half on top and then roll it up into a tube. I then baked the tubes in the oven at 375 for about 5 minutes on each side.

I did several variations of that general concept, one with cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg and one with cheese, salt and pepper and a few others with basil. The overall taste was light, salty, and crunchy - they'd make for a great quick snack. However I would only serve these at an outdoor party (so many crumbs! the phyllo dough is so flaky) and I wouldn't use basil again, it does that over-cooked black coloring that is blech!-looking.

I also ended up folding some phyllo dough into a ramekin, filling it with a mixture of tomatoes (which I should have fully de-seeded and salted to let some of the water drain out first), basil, parmesan cheese, and salt; and then topping it with more phyllo and brushing that with butter and sprinkling with garlic powder. I called the result "study for tomato pie" because it wasn't good enough to be a real pie, but definitely had the outline/prospects to become one.

When I was done with those few experiments, it was time for Lost to begin, so I closed down the kitchen and took my flaky snacks to the living room.

Have you ever worked with phyllo dough?
Tell me about it in the comments!

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