Recipe for a delightful Easter dessert of the isles of the Cyclades.
Photo: Melitinia a cheese-filled traditional Easter dessert of the Cyclades.
At Easter, the culinary tradition features a range of desserts from the must-Easter sweet bread tsoureki and butter cookies, koulourakia.
On the isles of the Small Cyclades it is customary to include melitinia (small cheese-filled tarts) that are served for about 40 days after Easter.
This is recipe was provided to us by our friends at Schinoussa.
Serving size: approximately 35 sweets
Ingredients:?
for the phyllo dough:
- 1 glass of warm water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 egg
- 1 shot glass of the spirit tsikoudia or tsipouro or ouzo
- 1 kilo (self rising) flour
for the filling:
- 1 kilo (soft) mitzithra cheese (alternate: anthotyro)
- ½ kilo sugar
- 4 eggs
- ?2 little powder shots of vanilla
- ½ tsp mastic powder
Preparation:?
- Prepare the filling first: Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix slowly until all ingredients are combined (for faster results you may use a hand mixer on slow speed).
- Phyllo dough:? In a separate bowl, mix the ingredients for the phyllo and mix into a dough. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
- When the dough is ready, spread the dough with a rolling pin and with a glass, carefully cut out round pieces.
- Place a 1 tbsp of the filling inside each round piece of dough and turn up the edges creating a form of a basket.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
- Garnish with cinnamon. Cool and serve.
