Bugatsa
8 servings
150 minutes
Bougatza is a delicate Greek dessert from Northern Greece. Its history dates back to the Byzantine era when pastry masters refined the art of layered baking. This thin, crispy dough filled with aromatic custard has a harmonious blend of sweetness and creamy flavor. Each piece resembles a tender cloud melting in the mouth. Bougatza is traditionally served for breakfast or as a dessert with coffee, dusted with powdered sugar for the perfect finish to the flavor symphony. It can be found on the streets of Thessaloniki and Athens, where local bakers pass down the recipe from generation to generation. It is not just a pie — it embodies the Greek culinary soul infused with Mediterranean traditions and warmth.
1
Mix flour, salt, sugar, and soda water, knead the dough for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 parts, wrap each in plastic wrap, and set aside for an hour.
- Wheat flour: 500 g
- Salt: 1 tablespoon
- Sugar: 300 g
- Sparkling water: 260 ml
2
Roll out one ball to make a circle about 40 cm in diameter. Take room temperature butter (50 g) and spread it on the dough. Fold the edges to form a square. Roll out a second ball, spread it with butter, and place the first portion of dough inside it. Wrap the second circle around the first.
- Butter: 300 g
- Wheat flour: 500 g
3
Repeat the procedure with the remaining dough to make another square. Wrap in film and leave in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Butter: 300 g
4
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Heat milk and 100 g of butter in a pot. In a separate bowl, mix flour, corn flour, semolina, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Pour this mixture into boiling milk and cook until thickened.
- Milk: 1 l
- Butter: 300 g
- Wheat flour: 500 g
- Cornmeal: 40 g
- Semolina: 80 g
- Sugar: 300 g
- Chicken egg: 4 pieces
- Vanillin: to taste
5
Roll one of the squares to the size of the baking tray. Grease the form with oil and place the dough with edges. Pour the filling onto the dough. Fold the edges inward. Roll out the second square of dough and cover the filling with it.
- Butter: 300 g
- Wheat flour: 500 g
6
Grease the pie with butter, bake for 40 minutes at 180°C. Remove and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Butter: 300 g
- Icing sugar: to taste
