The best Bulgarian Tikvenik
Ingredients
Pumpkin flesh – 1kg
White sugar – 200g plus extra for sprinkling
Phyllo dough – 500g or 4 sheets
Sunflower oil – 200g
Cinnamon – 3g
White sugar for syrup – 150g
Water for syrup – 150g
​Procedure
​
-
Heat up 150g of the oil in large pan over medium heat. Pre-heat oven at 180oC
-
Grate the pumpkin flesh and it to the oil along with the sugar, walnuts and cinnamon
-
Mix well and cook until the pumpkin has softened
-
Roll out your phyllo dough sheets and cut them in half widthwise. Divide your filling evenly into 8.
-
Brush your sheets with the remaining oil and spread the already portioned amount of filling on each, leaving a little space at each end to account for displacement when rolling them up.
-
Roll your sheets up and place them in a rectangular baking dish
-
In a small pot, combine the water and sugar set aside for the syrup. Heat on medium until the sugar has dissolved an the syrup has slightly thickened.
-
Pour all of your syrup over your rolled up sheets, sprinkle additional sugar overtop and bake for 40-45 minutes.
-
Allow to cool completely before taking the finished pastry out of the pan