Sütlü börek (soot-loo buhr-ehk) is a beloved Cypriot dessert. Sütlü means 'milky' in Turkish, in reference to the firm yet smooth vanilla-infused semolina custard filling. The layers of golden, buttery and flaky filo pastry of sütlü börek offer a delightful crunch that contrasts beautifully with the custard.
With its delicate texture, the pastry feels wonderfully light to eat. The aromas of rose, cinnamon and cloves come gently through as the syrup oozes into your mouth with every bite, making it a truly indulgent experience.
The fusion of crispness, creaminess, and sweet syrup makes sütlü börek a perfect dessert to be served after a meal or shared as part of a celebration like Bayram (Eid). The dessert is traditionally served chilled, but can also be eaten warm with ice cream on the side.
Our recipe uses regular (medium) semolina rather than fine or coarse. This provides the best texture for the custard as it gives an optimal balance of firm and smooth. We also use thin baklava filo pastry, as it makes the pastry shell more crisp than regular filo pastry. Both are available in most Turkish food stores.
The syrup needs to cool completely to room temperature before adding the rose water and ladling over the hot pastries, so you would need to allow enough time to prepare things accordingly. A recommendation would be to make the syrup in the morning and the sütlü börek in the evening. The pastries can then be covered overnight to absorb the syrup completely.
Makes 20 pieces | Preparation time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 45 minutes for the syrup | Baking time: 30 minutes for the pastries | Additional time: To cool the custard and syrup to room temperature and for the pastries to absorb the syrup overnight
Ingredients
For the syrup | |
800g white sugar | 2x 5cm strips of a cinnamon quill (break up the quill to get the individual strips) |
1L water | 1 tbsp lemon juice |
6 cloves | 2 tbsp rose water |
For the pastry | |
20 sheets of thin baklava filo pastry (this is thinner than normal filo pastry) | 200g unsalted butter, melted for greasing |
For the custard | |
200g regular semolina (not fine or coarse) | 100g white sugar |
1L milk | 2 tbsp rose water |
50g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing | 1 tsp vanilla extract |
100ml water | 40g cornflour |
Hob heat settings
Method
For the syrup
Mix the sugar, water, cinnamon and cloves in a large saucepan until the sugar fully dissolves. Place on a high heat while loosely covered until there is a rolling simmer (about 15-20 minutes).
Stir in the lemon juice and continue to simmer while loosely covered for 20-25 minutes more, or until the syrup thickens slightly and goes light brown in colour. Allow the syrup to cool completely to room temperature before adding the rose water and mix well.
For the semolina custard
Add the milk, rose water, vanilla essence, sugar and 50g of unsalted butter to a large saucepan and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Place on a high heat while loosely covered for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the butter melts thoroughly and steam rises from the surface.
Lower to a medium-high heat. Dissolve the cornflour in the water and add to the milk along with the semolina. Whisk continuously for up to 1 minute or until it starts to thicken. Reduce to a medium-low heat and stir with a spoon for 3-5 minutes more, or until the custard becomes thick (like the consistency of creamy mashed potatoes).
Pour the custard into a butter-greased D5xW30xL40cm oven pan, spreading evenly with the back of a wet spoon. Leave covered with a tea tray and tea towel to cool completely and become firm (approx 1 hour) before cutting the custard into 20 W6xL10cm rectangle pieces.
For the pastries
Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C Fan/Gas Mark 5 and grease two D5xW30xL40cm oven pans with butter.
Fold one filo sheet in half and grease lightly with the melted butter. Add a piece of custard 2cm up from the bottom.
Fold the pastry in once from the bottom over the filling.
Fold the pastry once from the left and right so the two sides overlap - but don’t squeeze the filling too tightly.
Grease with melted butter along the length of the pastry once more and then start rolling inwards to create a parcel.
Once you get to the final flap of pastry, grease it once more and fold over. Grease once more over the flap to hold everything in place and all over the tops and sides.
Place 10 pastries 2cm apart and flap-side down in each of the two greased oven pans. Placing them flap-side down prevents them from opening while baking. Bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned all over (check the bottoms to make sure they are browned too).
Remove the pastries from the oven and ladle over the syrup (at room temperature) while the pastries are still hot. You will need to use half the syrup for each oven pan with 10 pastries.
Loosely cover the pastries with a tea tray and tea towel, and leave to cool and fully absorb the syrup for a few hours (preferably overnight), before serving chilled.