Korça qumështor — a traditional dessert with milk, eggs and oven-baked pastry sheets

Ingredients (for 8–10 servings)

For the custard:

• 1 litre milk
• 6 eggs
• 200 g sugar
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar
• 1 pinch of salt

For the layers:

• 500 g ready-made pastry sheets (baklava sheets)
• 100 g melted butter

For the syrup:

• 300 g sugar
• 300 ml water
• 1 slice of lemon

Preparation steps

1. In a saucepan, heat the milk until it just comes to a boil, then let it cool slightly.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar, vanilla and pinch of salt until the mixture turns pale.
3. Add the warm milk little by little, stirring constantly, so the eggs do not curdle.
4. Butter a medium baking dish and lay out half of the pastry sheets, brushing each one with melted butter.
5. Pour the milk custard over the sheets and cover with the remaining sheets, brushing them with butter again.
6. Score the surface into squares with a sharp knife and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 35–40 minutes, until golden.
7. Meanwhile prepare the syrup: boil the sugar, water and lemon slice for 5 minutes; let it cool.
8. As soon as the qumështor comes out of the oven, pour the cold syrup over it and let it rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Preparation time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 35–40 minutes | Servings: 8–10