Flower cake. Ruffled milk Pie

How to make a cake in the shape of a flower

This simple and attractive tart is also known as a curly milk tart or “ Ruffled milk Pie ”.

It is a dessert with a crispy part, thanks to the phyllo dough, and a creamy part due to the filling, which is a delicious milk cream.

I have seen it many times in the networks or on the internet, but I had not yet prepared it at home.

We owe this delight to the Greek cook Vefa Alexiadou, well-loved and well-known in her country, where she has already published almost twenty books. Among them I can highlight “ La cocina de Vefa ”, a fantastic recipe book of Greek cuisine , considered almost as the gastronomic Bible of Greece.

The filling of the flower cake is a very simple milk cream , but it could also fit a classic pastry cream , which we can flavor to our liking, with lemon or orange peel, cinnamon stick, vanilla, etc.

In the blog you can find other desserts of this style, such as cake Catalan cream , the strawberry pie and cream , or always appetizing homemade custard . 

I hope you are encouraged to prepare this curly cake, which has conquered me and of course I will repeat more times at home.

Preparation of the base of the flower cake

1. We preheat the oven. Ten minutes at 180º and with “up / down” heat.  
2. Melt the butter. We smear the mold first, and then we carry out the same process with each of the phyllo sheets, with the help of a kitchen brush.
3. We crinkle each sheet as if it were a fan. We are placing them in the mold, irregularly, from the center out.
4. We must do it carefully, to avoid breaking them.

Baking and final presentation of the flower cake

1. We bake our “flower” of phyllo dough for 10 minutes, at 180º C. Take a look, so we don’t get too roasted. After time, the dough will be golden.
2. Meanwhile, we are going to prepare the milk cream. In a saucepan, heat the milk, along with the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick. When it begins to boil, remove from the heat and reserve.
3. In a bowl, beat the eggs. Add the sugar and continue mixing.
4. Now we incorporate the milk, which we pass through a strainer. We mix well again.
5. With the phyllo dough already baked, we now pour the cream, distributing it between the holes in the cake.
6. We put it back in the oven, this time with the “heat down” function. Bake for 20 minutes, at 180º C, until the cream is curdled.
7. We can check with a skewer, and if it comes out clean, it is already at its point. We remove from the oven and let it warm.

As a final touch, sprinkle with the icing sugar. We can leave it inside the mold or unmold it, and present it in a platter or dish. 

Here you can see all the photos of the step by step recipe of the Flower cake . Do not miss any detail and it will be perfect, perfect to succeed in any celebration.

Tips for a yummy flower pie

• Choosing a good mold is essential for the success of our cake. I recommend using one that is not removable, to avoid spilling the cream.
• We will use a round metal, glass or ceramic mold. Nor that it is too big, because otherwise we will need enough phyllo sheets to cover it.
• Milk cream can be flavored with whatever you like best. I have used lemon peel and cinnamon, very Mediterranean ingredients and very present in Greek cuisine, but we could use orange peel, a vanilla bean, etc.
• The classic decoration is with icing sugar, although we can also add cinnamon powder and mix. In this way we will give it a special touch.
• Anyway, don’t go overboard with this species, because we have already used it during the preparation of the filling cream.