Kourou Cheese Pies ~ Τυροπιτάκια Κουρού

Lots of recipes lately not because I have been baking more but because I have more time for uploads! For me good home made food is a must so baking and cooking different recipes are part of my daily routine! I will share another cheese pie recipe that I found the other day and I thought it was worth trying.
In Greece we have two different types of cheese pies. Ones are made with filo pastry and the other ones with kourou pastry which is a type of short crust pastry. I always thought that kourou as any type of pastry is difficult to make. I was wrong! Even though I haven't tried any other recipe apart from this one I have realized that it is very easy to make! I would recommend it to ones that are new in baking!

Ingredients:
750 g self raising flour
1 1/2 cup of milk
2 cups grated parmesan cheese
250 g butter
2 eggs
500 g feta cheese
a bit of olive oil
sesame for decoration

In a bowl we mix the flour, parmesan cheese, butter, milk and one of the eggs. We work the mixture until it turns into an elastic dough. We add milk or flour depending on whether it is too dry or moist. We let it aside to rest and we grate the feta cheese and mix it with a bit of olive oil. Take a small fist of dough and work it into a flat circle. Place some feta in the middle and close it so that you form a crescent. When we have formed all the cheese pies we beat the other egg and dilute it with a bit of water. Brush the pies with the mixture and sprinkle with sesame.
Bake in a preheated oven at 190 C for about 15 minutes or until they are golden.

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Vanilla and Chocolate Eclairs

I love challenges and when my work and everything else is under control I indulge myself in getting challenged in baking. I was in between making eclairs or baked Alaskas since they are considered two of the most difficult desserts. I asked a few friends for what they would prefer and most of them went with eclairs. I had tried to make profiteroles when I was much younger and I had failed. The dough is so difficult to make as if its consistency or the baking temperature are not right they go flat the moment you take them out of the oven. That reminder didn't stop me. I tried a few recipes before deciding that I am happy with the one I found. With the first I wasn't happy as they eclairs didn't rise that much, the second's problem was that even though the did rise you could taste the egg a lot and the third was too flat in terms of taste. These different recipes helped me kind of get an idea of what it takes to achieve a good eclair. My fourth attempt was a combination of my previous observations.

Each recipe had it's own creme recipes. I tried vanilla and chocolate ones and even though I only posted a photo of a vanilla eclair I will also give you the recipe for the chocolate cream filling.

Ingredients for the choux:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
120 g butter
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup all purpose flour
6 medium eggs

Ingredients for the vanilla cream filling:
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
2 tbsp flour
4 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp butter

Ingredients for the chocolate cream filling:
100 g dark chocolate
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup milk

Ingredients for the chocolate glaze:
100 g dark chocolate
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the choux:
We start by making the choux dough. In a saucepan we bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt into boil. Turn the heat down to medium and add the flour while stirring vigorously. The ingredients will come together while stirring. Keep stirring for about 3 minutes. Beat the eggs by hand and place the mixture in an electric mixer. While the mixer is working and the dough is cooling down start pouring the eggs slowly slowly. You might not need to use all the eggs. The aim is to get a light yellow in color dough that is thick enough to just drop from our spoon. Preheat the oven at 200 C. Once the dough is ready fill in a pipping bag. Pipe out on baking paper the dough as long as you want your eclairs to be. Decrease the temperature at 190 C and place the baking tray in the oven. Bake for 20 mins. Check the choux after about 15 mins. If they have started to get too brown decrease the temperature at 180 C but not less. Even if they look ready they are not. They need to be baked in the inside too so that they don't get flat once out of the oven. Remove from the oven after 20 mins and let them cool.

For the vanilla cream filling:
Bring the milk into boil while you beat the egg yolks with the sugar in an electric mixer until it gets fluffy white.  Add the flour and corn starch. Keep mixing and pour 1/3 of the milk. Once mixed well return the mixture to the pan and cook over medium heat while stirring vigorously. The mixture will start to thicken and we need to be careful that it doesn't get burnt. Add the vanilla and butter until they integrate well. We set aside for it to cool.

 For the chocolate cream filling:
We follow the same process as with the vanilla cream filling with the only difference that instead of the butter we lastly add the chocolate.

For the chocolate glaze:
Melt the chocolate in a bain marie and add one by one all the ingredients. Keep stirring. If it is too runny then add a bit more sugar. Remember that the mixture will thicken once it cools.

Fill chouxs with either the vanilla or the chocolate cream filling. Pour the chocolate glaze while it is still warm. Set aside until it hardens.

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Cross Stitch Wishes

I was brought up by a very artsy mother! She loves crafts and when it comes to decoration she always had a good eye! When she is not satisfied with what she finds in stores she doesn't hesitate to make things herself. Our friends loved her taste and skill so many times they had asked her to make Christmas, Easter or other types of decorations for them. Our house has turned into a crafts workshop in many occasions. Her profession has nothing to do with crafts. She is a mathematician that simply hasn't denied her artsy side. She loves beauty around her and that is obvious from the way she will style the simplest of salads or dishes to what she decides to create.

Lately she started cross stitching again. She made some Easter and Mother's Day cards for friends and her friends saw them they asked from her to make more and she ended up selling a lot! The money that was raised was collected and donated for the construction of an orphanage my family is supporting.

I really liked them so I thought I would share some with you. They are so classic and yet timeless. She has decided to keep making and selling them so if you are interested don't hesitate to get in touch via email at kurkubinii@gmail.com :)

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Cheese and Cream Pies ~ Τιροπιτάκια και Μπουγατσίνια με Κρέμα

Nothing is better than a nice warm breakfast that does not just include your typical bread and cheese or a type of spread. Ideally I prefer to have fruit first thing in the morning but sometimes I like to treat myself with something more. (If my family reads the last sentence they will define something more as salted or smoked sardines or fish and other unusual types of food or combinations such as toasted bread with feta cheese and strawberry jam) Apart from those times that I do indeed have cravings for not your typical breakfast food I like pies with cheese or cream fillings, a typical Thessaloniki morning treat. I had made some filo pastry the other day and I couldn't decide if I wanted to make a big pie or small ones. I decided to go for small ones as I could have different fillings. The good thing about all types of pastry is that it goes with any type of ingredient so you can mix and match according to your appetite. I won't give the recipe for the filo pastry this time but will give the recipes for the two fillings.

Cheese pies ingredients:
250g filo pastry
200g a mixture of any type of cheese
1 egg
1 tbsp parsley
salt, pepper

Cream pies ingredients:
250g filo pastry
2 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup fine semolina
1/2 cup sugar
2 small eggs
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
(if we like it Chios mastic spice)

butter and egg yolk

For the cheese pies we beat the egg with a fork and in a bowl just mix all the ingredients together.
For the cream pies we boil the milk with the mastic, salt and sugar. We remove from the stove and add the semolina and keep stirring. We lower the temperature to medium and return the pan on the stove. We keep stirring until we get a thick cream. We beat the eggs with a fork and add them along with the butter in the cream. Lastly we add the vanilla essence.

We cut the filo pastry in strips approximately three fingers wide. We lay one strip and brush it with melted butter. We place another strip on top and brush it with butter. At the edge of the strip we spoon 2 tsp of the filling. Fold the filo on top of the filling to create a triangle. Keep folding until the end of the strip.

Beat the egg yolk and add 1 tbs of water. Brush the pies with the mixture. This will give them a nice gloss. You can sprinkle sesame on top of the cheese pies too.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for approximately 15-20 or until golden.
Sprinkle some icing sugar and cinnamon on the cream pies once out of the oven.

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