Under the Blue Gum tree

How much do I love this dessert? Let me count the ways.

It’s crunchy yet creamy. Fruity and sweet. And it has salted caramel. Everything tastes better with a drizzle of salted caramel, right?

Bougatsa are custard filled pastries that hail from Greece. I watched George Calombaris make them on Masterchef Australia the other day and something told me that they would be awesome with bananas and salted caramel. How right I was!

This an adaptation of George’s recipe. But unlike him, I didn’t make my own phyllo. I bought it. From the supermarket. So sue me!

I am entering these bougatsa into The One Ingredient Challenge (co-hosted by Nazima of Franglais Kitchen and Laura of How to Cook Good Food) as this month’s chosen ingredient is banana.

Banana Bougatsa with Salted Caramel Sauce adapted from Masterchef Australia

Makes 6

For the bougatsa:

• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
• 2 tbsp semolina
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 115g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 200ml milk
• 100ml double cream
• 1 ripe banana
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 3-4 sheets phyllo pastry
• 100g melted butter
• icing sugar, to dust

For the salted caramel sauce:

• 175g caster sugar
• 150ml double cream
• 10g butter
• large pinch of sea salt

1.  Combine the vanilla paste, semolina, cornflour, sugar, egg, milk and cream in a pan. Whisk continuously over a medium heat until the custard thickens. Spoon into a bowl, cover and refrigerate.

2.  Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Cut the banana into 1cm cubes and mix with the lemon juice. Grease 6 holes of a 12 hole muffin tin. Cut the phyllo into 15cm x 15cm squares. You will need 12 squares. Save any trimmings for patching tears if necessary.

3.  Brush the squares of pastry with melted butter. Line each of the 6 muffin holes with 2 squares of pastry. Divide the cubed banana between the holes then top with approximately 2 heaped tsp of the chilled custard. Brush the overhanging pastry with butter, bring together the sides and pinch to seal. Brush with a little more butter. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

4.  Whilst the bougatsa are baking, make the sauce. Melt the sugar in a pan over a medium heat. Continue cooking until the sugar turns a deep amber colour. (Do not stir or the sugar may crystallise.) Remove from the heat and add half the cream. The sugar will bubble up so go carefully. Once the mixture has stopped bubbling, add the remaining cream and salt. Return to the heat and stir until smooth. The sauce will solidify as it cools so you will need to reheat it if making in advance.

5.  To serve, dust the warm bougatsa with icing sugar and drizzle over the salted caramel sauce.