Early summer is here and so is Ontario strawberry season and their flavour is at their peak. This custard tart brings me back to the flavours of Cyprus. Semolina custard and rosewater is a very popular combination in Greek Cypriot Desserts, especially nestled in crispy phyllo pastry. This Phyllo pie is filled with a warm coconut and rosewater semolina custard topped with a vanilla strawberry jammy topping and a hint of fresh farm mint.  This strawberry tart is a beautiful and delicious dessert to enjoy all summer long . Serve this summer tart on its own or even top it with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.

Print

Strawberry Coconut and Rosewater Semolina Custard Phyllo Tart

Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cypriot

Materials

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup semolina
• 400 mL Coconut Milk full fat
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 tbsp rosewater
• 4 cup hulled and halved strawberries
• 9 g vanilla sugar
• 3 tbsp strawberry jam
• 2 tbsp finely sliced fresh mint
• 1/3 cup melted unsalted butter
• 8 phyllo sheets thawed as per package instructions

Instructions

• Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat and add semolina. Stir to mix with butter and cook until lightly golden, 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and let slightly cool.
• In a medium sauce pan, whisk together, milk, egg, sugar and scrape in vanilla from bean. Add the vanilla bean in the milk as well. Place pan of milk mixture over medium heat. When its warm to the touch, remove vanilla bean and stir in rose water. Slowly whisk in semolina into the mixture. Whisk until mixture has thicken and is bubbly. Remove from heat to cool.
• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• To assemble the phyllo pie, using a pastry brush, butter an 8 inch springform pan with removable bottom.
• Place phyllo sheets between a damp tea towel, this will ensure it does not dry out. Brush one phyllo sheet with melted butter and place in spring form pan ensuring phyllo sheet is over lapping over sides of pan. Repeat with an additional 7 sheets of phyllo, alternating in the pan. Add custard inside phyllo and spread out evenly. Tuck in the overlapping phyllo around the inside edge of the pan, around the custard. Place in oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until phyllo is golden in colour and custard has set. Remove from oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes prior to removing from pan.
• While pie is cooling, add strawberries in a medium bowl and toss with vanilla sugar, strawberry jam and fresh mint.
• Place pie on platter and remove from pan. Poke about a dozen holes half way through the custard with a skewer, this will help the delicious fruit juice moisten the custard. Top with strawberry topping and enjoy.