This ruffled milk pie recipe is a creative take on this Greek classic, also known as Galatopita. It features sweet black sesame chocolate on the bottom and is an incredibly easy yet fancy-looking dessert that’s great to bring along to gatherings!
Table of Contents
- What is Ruffled Milk Pie?
- Why You’ll Love This Ruffled Milk Pie Recipe
- Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Ruffled Milk Pie
- How to Make Ruffled Milk Pie (Step by Step)
- Joyce’s Tips For Making the Best Ruffled Milk Pie
- Serving Suggestions
- Recipe Variation Ideas for Ruffled Milk Pie
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How to Store Leftover Ruffled Milk Pie
- Looking for More Dessert Recipes? Try These!
- Recipe Card
Ruffled milk pie is so easy to make that it should hardly be counted as baking! The steps are simple and involve making crispy phyllo bundles with a store-bought phyllo sheet that’s then filled with a sweet filling and baked.
It’s such a simple dessert, looks incredible, and is always a crowd-pleaser! The best part is that leftovers store beautifully and can be reheated, so this is also a great make-ahead dessert to take along with you to a gathering.
Plus, the taste is absolutely heavenly, with the sweetness of the custard perfectly balanced by the savory, buttery phyllo. So, if you're looking for a dessert that is both delicious and visually stunning, then this ruffled milk pie recipe is the one for you!
Read on to learn exactly how to make this delicious ruffled milk pie recipe today!
What is Ruffled Milk Pie?
Ruffled milk pie is a delicious Greek dessert, also known as Galatopita, and is made with a few simple ingredients but yields a stunning result.
This recipe involves creating a black sesame chocolate custard-like filling nestled within ruffled sheets of phyllo dough. The pie is then baked to a golden brown, resulting in a dessert that’s simple to make and perfect for gatherings!
What’s best is that it tastes as good as it looks, with the buttery, crunchy phyllo pastry complimenting the smooth, creamy filling perfectly. It’s the kind of dessert that leaves people asking for seconds.
Trust me and give this dessert a try - you might just find your new favorite dessert.
Why You’ll Love This Ruffled Milk Pie Recipe
- Easy to Make: This ruffled milk pie recipe is straightforward and easy to follow. With clear, step-by-step instructions, you'll have a delicious Greek dessert ready in no time. Even if you're a beginner baker, you can easily make this dish.
- A Twist to a Classic Dessert: This version has a black sesame chocolate custard filling instead of the traditional egg custard. So if you're looking for something different and more chocolatey, definitely try this version.
- Versatile and Beautiful for Gatherings: This recipe is versatile and allows for a range of variations. You can switch up the filling, add different spices, or even top it with various garnishes. It is a recipe that you can make your own, and they always are stunning to look at for gatherings.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Ruffled Milk Pie
Here's an overview of the specific ingredients for this ruffled milk pie recipe. For the exact ingredients and measurements, please scroll to the recipe card below.
- Phyllo Pastry: This is the star of the show. The phyllo sheets will form the crispy, ruffled layers of the pie. If you're using frozen phyllo, remember to defrost it properly to prevent it from drying out.
- Butter: This is our fat component. It gives the pie a rich, buttery flavor and helps the phyllo pastry to turn golden brown in the oven.
For Black Sesame Chocolate Filling:
- Egg: This acts as a thickener for the custard filling, guaranteeing that it stays together when baked.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: This adds a creamy sweetness to our filling, balancing out the bitterness of the cocoa powder.
- Sugar: This sweetens the filling. If you prefer a sweeter dessert, you can add a couple extra tablespoons.
- Milk: This adds moisture to the filling, creating a creamy texture.
- Cocoa Powder: This gives our filling a rich chocolate flavor.
- Black Sesame Seeds: These seeds add a nutty flavor to the custard filling. You can substitute with white sesame seeds if you can't find black sesame seeds. The only thing that will change is the color.
- Cinnamon: This adds a warm, cozy cinnamon flavor to the filling.
- Vanilla Extract: This adds a vanilla flavor to the custard filling, providing a sweet, aromatic undertone.
For Glutinous Rice Flour Slurry:
- Glutinous Rice Flour: This thickens the slurry, which helps to set the filling. You can substitute with potato or corn starch, but the texture will be different and slightly thinner.
- Milk: This is used to mix with the glutinous rice flour to form a slurry.
For Garnish:
- Powdered Sugar or Sweetened Condensed Milk: Either of these can be used to finish off the pie, adding an extra touch of sweetness. If you have a small blender or food processor, you can even make your own powdered sugar!
How to Make Ruffled Milk Pie (Step by Step)
Making this incredible ruffled milk pie recipe at home is super easy and will give you great results every single time. Here's how to make it step by step:
Making the Ruffled Phyllo Bundles
Melt the Butter: Cut your butter into 1-inch chunks and melt it either on the stovetop or in the microwave. If you're using the microwave, remember to heat the butter in 10-second intervals to prevent any mess. Set the melted butter aside.
Prepare the Cake Pan: Take your 9-inch cake pan and either butter it or line it with parchment paper. Remember to use a pan that is at least 2 inches high to prevent any overflow.
Moisten a Towel: Dampen a kitchen towel or paper towel and cover your sheets of phyllo dough to keep them from drying out.
Butter the Phyllo Sheets: Take one sheet of phyllo dough, brush it liberally with melted butter, then layer another sheet on top.
Form the Phyllo Bundles: Pinch the sheets into ruffled folds at the ends and the middle, then spiral them into a coil, tucking the end underneath. Set the bundle in the cake pan and repeat this process until you have five bundles.
Brush the Bundles with Butter: Use the remaining melted butter to brush a light layer on top of each phyllo bundle. If necessary, melt more butter.
Preheat the Oven: Set your oven to 350 F (180C).
Pre-Bake the Bundles: Place the pan in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the tops are slightly golden and crispy. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Making the Black Sesame Chocolate Filling
Blitz the Sesame Seeds: Use a food processor to grind the sesame seeds until it is a fine powder.
Mix the Filling Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients listed under 'Black Sesame Chocolate Filling' and mix well.
Make a Rice Flour Slurry Thickener: In a separate bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour and milk until smooth, then add this slurry to the chocolate filling and mix well.
Assembling the Pie
Pour in the Filling: Carefully pour half of the chocolate filling into the pan, avoiding the phyllo bundles. Lift each bundle slightly and tilt the pan to distribute the filling evenly throughout the bottom of the pan.
Finish Baking: Pour the remaining filling into the pan and return it to the oven. Bake for another 25-30 minutes until the phyllo is golden brown and the filling is set.
Serve: Drizzle with condensed milk or dust with powdered sugar, and serve while it's still crispy. Enjoy your delicious Greek dessert!
Joyce’s Tips For Making the Best Ruffled Milk Pie
Defrost the Phyllo Pastry Ahead of Time: If you are using frozen phyllo pastry, make sure to defrost it in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for about 3-4 hours. Keeping the phyllo pastry in its original packaging while it is defrosting will prevent it from drying out.
Butter the Phyllo Sheets Liberally: When layering your sheets of phyllo dough, make sure to brush each sheet liberally with melted butter. This will give your ruffled milk pie its golden brown, crispy texture.
Preheat the Oven: Always preheat your oven to the appropriate temperature before baking. This will help guarantee that your dessert cooks evenly and in the specified amount of time.
Pour the Chocolate Filling Carefully Between the Phyllo Bundles: When pouring the chocolate filling into the pan, be careful not to get any on top of the phyllo pastry bundles. This will keep the pastry crispy and prevent it from becoming soggy.
Adjust Sweetness to Your Liking: Since I don't like overly sweet desserts, this dessert is lightly sweetened. If you prefer a sweeter dessert, feel free to add an additional 2-3 tablespoons of sugar.
Serving Suggestions
- For a great start to your day, try having a slice of this Greek dessert, with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. The creamy custard and crispy phyllo dough will give your morning a sweet and satisfying start.
- Looking for a unique dessert to serve at your next dinner party? This ruffled milk pie is a great choice. Serve it warm from the oven, when it is golden brown and the phyllo dough is at its crispiest. Your guests will love this unexpected treat!
- If you're a fan of pairing sweet and tart flavors, try serving a slice of ruffled milk pie with a handful of fresh raspberries. The tartness of the berries perfectly balances the sweetness of the custard and phyllo dough.
- For a delicious dessert option, try serving a slice of this ruffled milk pie with a dollop of heavy cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The creaminess of the ice cream or cream complements the crispy texture of the phyllo dough and the smooth custard filling.
- For a fun twist, serve your ruffled milk pie in a cake pan shaped like a large spiral, instead of bundles. This will give your dessert a unique and attractive look.
Recipe Variation Ideas for Ruffled Milk Pie
This delicious ruffled milk pie recipe is so flavorful and easy to make, you'll want to try out some of these delicious variations! Here are some great ideas:
- Add Some Nuts: If you're a fan of nuts, try adding a handful of chopped almonds or walnuts to the black sesame chocolate filling. The addition of nuts will give the pie an extra crunch and a subtle nutty flavor that compliments the chocolate perfectly.
- Make it Fruity: Add a burst of fruity flavor by incorporating fresh raspberries into the chocolate filling. The tartness of the raspberries pairs wonderfully with the sweet chocolate, creating a balanced and refreshing flavor profile.
- Greek-Inspired: For a Greek-inspired dessert, swap the black sesame chocolate filling with a homemade custard made from large eggs, whole milk, granulated sugar, and a bit of vanilla. This will transform your ruffled milk pie into a delicious Greek dessert known as Galaktoboureko.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely, you can use frozen phyllo pastry. Just remember to defrost it in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for about 3-4 hours. Keep the phyllo pastry in its original packaging while it is defrosting to prevent it from drying out.
Yes, this dessert is lightly sweetened. If you prefer a sweeter dessert, feel free to add an additional 2-3 tablespoons of granulated sugar to the black sesame chocolate filling.
Yes, if you don't have black sesame seeds, you can substitute them with white sesame seeds. It will taste the same but look different, but still delicious.
In case you don't have glutinous rice flour, you can substitute it with potato or corn starch. However, the texture of the custard might be slightly different.
How to Store Leftover Ruffled Milk Pie
Refrigerating: Once cooled, place your pie in a well-sealed container to keep it fresh. It is important to use a container that's airtight to prevent any unwanted fridge odors from seeping into your dessert. The pie can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheating: When you're ready to enjoy it again, preheat your oven to 350 F. Place the pie on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the phyllo dough is crispy again and the custard is warmed through. Be sure to keep an eye on it to prevent it from burning.
Freezing: Unfortunately, due to the delicate nature of the phyllo dough and the custard filling, freezing is not recommended. The texture of the custard might change upon thawing and the phyllo dough could become soggy, losing its characteristic crispiness.
Looking for More Dessert Recipes? Try These!
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Recipe Card
Black Sesame Chocolate Ruffle Milk Pie
Joyce's Recipe Notes
- If you are using frozen phyllo pastry, you may need to defrost it in the fridge overnight or defrost it in room temperature for about 3-4 hours. Keep the phyllo pastry in its original packaging while it's defrosting so it doesn't dry out.
- This dessert is lightly sweetened. If you prefer a sweeter dessert, add an additional 2-3 tablespoons of sugar.
- If you have a small blender or food processor, you can make your own powdered sugar by blitzing regular sugar!
- If you have leftovers, you can reheat this in the oven at 350F for about 10 minutes to make the phyllo pastry crispy again
- Leftovers can be stored in a well-sealed container in the fridge. Make sure it has fully cooled before putting it into the container.
Ingredients
- 10 sheets phyllo pastry
- ½ cup butter
Black Sesame Chocolate Filling
- 1 egg
- 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup milk
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup black sesame seeds (can substitute for white sesame seeds)
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Glutinous Rice Flour Slurry
- 2 ½ tablespoon glutinous rice flour (you can substitute with potato or corn starch, but the texture will be different)
- 3 tablespoons milk
Garnish
Instructions
Making Ruffled Phyllo Bundles
- Cut ½ cup butter into 1-inch chunks and melt it over the stovetop or in a microwave. (If you use a microwave, make sure you heat it at 10 second intervals and check on it before adding another 10 seconds so it doesn't splatter). Set the melted butter aside.
- Use a 9-inch pan and butter it or line it with parchment paper.It's important that you use a pan that is 9-inches or larger with a height of at least 2 inches so that the chocolate filling doesn't overflow or get too high - which will reduce the amount of crispy phyllo exposed by half.
- Get a large kitchen towel or some paper towel and wet it. Wring it out really well so that it is damp but not soaking wet. Remove the phyllo pastry from the packaging and cover it with the damp towel.
- Take 1 sheet of phyllo pastry and brush it liberally with melted butter. Take another sheet of phyllo pastry and lay it on top of the buttered one and brush melted butter on it liberally as well.
- Gently pinch the pastry into ruffled folds on the 2 ends and the middle.
- Gently spiral it into a coil and tuck the end underneath the bottom so that the bundles sit higher (this is to expose more of the phyllo pastry during baking for more crispiness!) I like to also gently pull up the middle of the coil as well to make it sit slightly higher.
- Set the bundle in the pan.
- Continue this process until you have 5 bundles in the pan. Make sure to leave a small space in the middle where you can easily pour the chocolate filling in without getting it on top of the ruffled bundles.
- Use the remainder of the butter and brush the tops of each phyllo bundle until there is a light layer of butter on it. You may need to heat up some more butter if there is not enough.
Pre-Bake the Phyllo Bundles
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F (180C).
- Put it in the oven and bake it for 25-30 minutes until it is slightly golden and crispy at the tops.
- Remove it from the oven and let it slightly cool while you make the Black Sesame Chocolate Filling. (Leave the oven on, we will still need to use it.)
Mixing the Black Sesame Chocolate Filling
- In a food processor, blitz ⅓ cup black sesame seeds until it is a fine powder.
- In a large bowl combine 1 egg, 1 cup sweetened condensed milk, ⅓ cup cocoa powder, ½ cup milk1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, and the blitzed sesame seeds and mix well.
- In a separate small bowl, combine 2 ½ tablespoon glutinous rice flour and 3 tablespoons milk, and mix until it has dissolved into the milk and it is smooth.
- Add the glutinous rice flour slurry you just made to the Chocolate Filling and mix everything well.
Putting It Together
- Gently pour ½ the chocolate filling into the pan with the phyllo bundles in the area where you left a little space. (In my example, I left it in the middle.) Be careful not to get any on top of the phyllo pastry bundles.
- Gently lift each bundle ½ inch up one at a time and tilt the pan to get the chocolate filling underneath each bundle to evenly get the chocolate filling throughout the dessert. If the pan is still hot, make sure to use oven mitts so you don't burn yourself when you are tilting the pan!
- Pour in the remainder of the filling through the openings and put the pan back in the oven
- Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until the phyllo is golden brown and the chocolate filling doesn't jiggle when you gently wiggle it.
- Lightly drizzle with some condensed milk or dust with powdered sugar on top and serve fresh while it is crispy.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Josie says
I agreed with the viewer Bella 👍, I love your creativity of this sesame pie 🥧 which I love all sesame unsweetened desert or cake. Your pie is just right size like tart size. Now, I have to make it right to satisfy my craving... Thank you.
bella says
Ooooh! I am so inspired by your creativity here! These flavors sound so delicious together & I am super honored to have inspired you to make this recipe 🙂
Joyce Lee says
Hi Bella,
Aw thanks so much for your kind words! All your recipes always look so amazing and make me drool!! I feel honored to have you here! 🙂
heather (delicious not gorgeous) says
what is this and how come i've never heard of it?! this looks so unique + i've been obsessed with black sesame recently (i made a black sesame latte recipe 4+ times over the past 3 weeks...)
Joyce says
Whoa black sesame latte!? sounds amazing where's mine? 😀 Sadly whenever I think of sweet stuff, I always default to chocolate or black sesame haha or anything with condensed milk on it! 😀
Makos says
After seeing this black sesame-chocolate pie you're officially my favorite person! I just can't wait to try this recipe!
Joyce says
haha you're too funny Makos! 🙂 Wait I thought I was always your favorite person? haha I kid! 🙂
Phil says
How hot is the oven?
Joyce says
Hi Phil!
Good catch! I must have been dozing when I was writing this haha 🙂 Pre-heat the oven to 350F. I updated the recipe card with it on step 10 under 'Making the Ruffled Phyllo Bundles'