Ekmeκ kadayifi, a layered delight…

We will be honest … The idea for this article started as follows: we thought about how delicious an ekmek kadayifi with fruit might be. Summer fruits, such as peaches and strawberries, we thought would complement the ekmek’s refreshing custard and contrast nicely with the sweet syrupy base. Then we thought, what could be the subject of this article? What is the characteristic of ekmek that makes it stand out? Its layers, we answered … And that’s how the idea to look for various sweets with layers from all over the world came to us!

So, in our new, syrupy article we will look for layered desserts from various countries worldwide and make a refreshing ekmek kadayifi with vanilla custard, cinnamon whipped cream and peach.

Our ekmek kadayifi with vanilla custard, cinnamon whipped cream and peach.

We will begin with perhaps the most famous layered dessert with a thousand dough sheets ie. millefeuille! Its layers must necessarily be puff pastry sheets and a custard in between. The original version has vanilla custard, but we will find it in many creative variations!

Millefeuille with strawberries and cream.

Another well-known layered dessert is the British trifle. Trifle is a sweet consisting of layers of fruit, cake soaked in sherry, jam or fruit jelly, custard and whipped cream. It is usually prepared in a pyrex or glass bowls, so that its layers are visible we guess… Obviously the variety of experimentations we can make is huge!

Trifle with strawberries, cherries and gin (source)

A layered dessert we have already tried is the crepe cake, with cakes alternating with custard. Find the recipe in our previous article “Crepe cake… French or maybe Japanese?“

Cake with crepes, orange custard with sangria and strawberries… Take a look at the recipe!

Banoffee is another delicious layered dessert. Its layers are very specific: a tart crust or a base of crumbled biscuits, toffee, bananas and whipped cream. The most important ingredient are bananas and one cannot be very creative… If we change the layers much, our dessert will stop being a banoffee!

Tiramisù is one of the classic Italian desserts. And as we are well aware of, it has its unique layers. Ladyfingers soaked in coffee, mascarpone cream and a layer of cocoa on top. We experimented a bit and made our own Greek tiramisu with a savoiardi biscuit base, Greek coffee and anthotyro cream. Find the recipe here!

The Greek tiramisu of Eat Dessert First Greece… Try it!

Another layered dessert comes from Northern Europe and specifically Poland. It is called miodownik and has honey cake and custard layers. It is usually prepared on Christmas, and also all year long. Another sweet with layers that can be the base for many flavour experimentations!

Miodownik with honey cake, custard, plum jam and caramelised walnuts. (source)

And since we have built an appetite with all those delicious desserts, let’s make a Greek traditional sweet, ekmek kadayifi, with our small twist, cinnamon syrup and peach.

H συνταγή μας

Ekmek kadayifi with peach

Ingredients for the ekmek kadayifi

For the kadyifi:
Kadayifi	300 gr
Butter (melted)	1/2 cup
Sugar	2 cups
Water	1/2 cup
Orange juice	from half an orange
For the custard:
Milk	3 cups
Corn flour	1/2 cup
Sugar	1/2 cup
Eggs	2
Βανίλια	2 capsules
For the whipped cream:
Heavy cream	250 ml
Cinnamon	1 tbs
Powder sugar	1 tbs
For decoration:
Peach	1

How to make ekmek kadayifi

Melt the butter in a saucepan and grease your pan.

After having defrosted your kadayifi, tear it apart and line your pan.

Pour the melted butter over, mix well with your hands and then press it. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for half an hour until golden brown.

Prepare the syrup: boil the water with the sugar and orange juice for five minutes since starting to boil. Let it aside to cool.

Half an hour later…

Moisten the kadayifi as it is hot from the oven.

Let the kadayifi aside to soak in the syrup.

Prepare the custard: Warm the milk and combine the corn flour, eggs, sugar and vanilla.

As soon as the milk gets warm add a laddle οf milk to the egg mixture and stir well with a hand whisk.

Return the mixture to the boiling milk and stir with the hand whisk.

Stir the custard until thickening and starting to make bubbles. Pour it into a pan and place in the fridge to cool. Don’t forget to place some cling film on the surface so that it doesn’t get a skinm

Now you must prepare the peach with which you’ll adorn your kadayifi.

Cut the peach into cubes and place them in the fridge.

Two-three hours later…

As soon as you see the kadayfi having absorbed all the syrup and the custard being cool enough, pour the custard over the kadayifi.

Make the surface smooth and place the dessert back into the fridge.

Half an hour later…

When the custard has set, it is time for food styling! If you are using a springform pan, remove the top piece.

Prepare the whipped cream: Whisk the cold heavy cream with the cinnamon and the powdered sugar and fill a piping bag. If you don’t have one you can use a food bag or just spread an even layer of whipped cream with a spoon.

We chose to add peach cubes into the voids of the grid. You can use whichever fruit you like!

We served the ekmek at Giorgos’ birthday, together with our “choux charlotte“!

Enjoy your layered delight, everyone!

4 Comments Add yours

Aspasía S. Bissas says:

July 10, 2020 at 12:16 am

This looks excellent! Out of curiosity, what would you put in a Greek-style trifle?

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1. Eat Dessert First Greece says:
  
  July 10, 2020 at 12:24 am
  
  We could use anthotyro cheese in the cream and also seasonal fruit such as peaches or watermelon, as well as homemade jam! Thank you very much for your comment and your kind words! ❣️❣️
  
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  1. Aspasía S. Bissas says:
    
    July 10, 2020 at 12:31 am
    
    Watermelon and anthotyro– I may have to do some experimenting! You’re very welcome– I really enjoy your posts ♥
    
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  2. Eat Dessert First Greece says:
    
    July 10, 2020 at 12:31 am
    
    🙏🙏🙏😘😘
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person