A very easy dish, but some might be surprised to know that despite all my baking, I have never actually made my own filo pastry before! I've done Shortcrust, Choux, and Puff but never Fresh Filo or Phyllo as some may say (to avoid any correction ;)
I always love making dishes that are very hands on and fiddly, so making pastry is right up my alley! For the Filo pastry, you chuck all the ingredients, flour, olive oil, water and salt into the food processor, knead for 3-4 mins until smooth and springs back (sort of like when you pock those squishy stress balls and they spring out!) 2 hours later, after leaving it to sit and rise in an oiled bowl, it is ready to be rolled out!
Now don't get me wrong here, I love my family and friends dearly, HOWEVER, it is when I receive gifts for the kitchen, like the one below, (pasta machine) that I get the most excited and joyful! Sad, I know, but come on look at it.... people who love to cook would understand! Haha
The pastry is so light, it feels like air, and almost as smooth as silk! Once rested, it is then separated into 8 pieces and each rolled and flattened in the pasta machine, to make the pastry nice and thin.
Filo is meant to be very delicate and very thin so that you can see through it, so it was quite hard to handle, but it just meant that I had to take a bit more time and caution so that it all went down well! While the dough was resting, I got onto making the custard.
Once again, everything is chucked into one pot, the cream, milk, egg, sugar, vanilla.. Did someone say diabetes, high cholesterol, hyperglycemia?? (As I always say... everything in moderation, although I guess that's much easier said than done!) To cool down, the custard is spread thickly on a lined tray and allowed to set so that it can easily be filled into the pastry 'bags'.
'Luckily, the figs are perfectly ripe and in season now, but that doesn't stop the supermarkets from charging people $2.00 for each fig! Yes... i said $2.00 per fig! Insane hey?! There's to the global financial crisis!
It was quite interesting because the recipe called for each fig firstly being pierced with a sharp piece of the cinnamon stick (I was never aware that cooking could be so aggressive or violent, but low and behold here we are, stabbing figs with sharp items... interesting technique!) It did however add to the presentation! Here are the cinnamon pierced figs..
Poaching the figs, was just like any normal fruit poaching recipe. Place the sugar, water, vanilla and for an extra touch, a little bit of verjuice, into a saucepan, and simmer with the figs for 5-10 mins, cool and allow the sauce to thicken!
Once all the components were made and ready to assemble, all that was left to do was layer the filo pastry, brush with butter, fill with custard, form it into small money bag parcel, and cook in the oven for 20-25 mins.
Once golden brown, the bougasta is lightly dusted with cinnamon sugar and served beside the poached figs and poaching liquid (which has now turned into a gorgeous floral pink colour, and smells so sweet and fruity!)
This time I promised myself I would have just one, but after the first bougasta I couldn't help myself, the pastry was sooo beautiful that I ended up eating half the pastry off all the tops of the parcels :) I figured no-one would know any better, but I guess I just gave myself in ;)
Thanks to some great photography from my friends... Here is the finished product! It's a really nice easy dessert to make for family and friends so if you want to give it a go, in my opinion I would say just buy pre-made filo pastry (tastes just the same and saves you lots of time), and fill with your own made custard and poached fruit.. its a cinch, and tastes delicious!!
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