Phyllo Nest Recipes

BERRY & YOGURT PHYLLO NESTS

Steps:

• Place one sheet of phyllo dough on a work surface; spritz with butter-flavored spray. Top with a another sheet of phyllo; spritz with spray. Cut into six squares. (Keep remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap to avoid drying out.) Repeat with remaining phyllo., Stack three squares of layered phyllo in each of six muffin cups coated with cooking spray, rotating squares so corners do not overlap. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon sugar into each cup. Spritz with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack., Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the yogurt, orange zest and juice, and remaining sugar. Spoon yogurt mixture into cups; top with berries. Garnish with mint if desired.

PISTACHIO BIRD'S NESTS

Steps:

• Lemon syrup: Combine the sugar, water, lemon juice, and zest in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat to dissolve the sugar. Lower the heat to medium and keep at a low boil until thickened, 15 minutes.
• Clarify butter: In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and bring to a simmer, 5-7 minutes. Once the white foam begins to form on the top, skim it off with a small ladle or spoon and discard. Continue to skim off the milk solids until the butter is clear. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Nests: Before assembling the nests, set up your work area. Lay the phyllo sheets on the work surface and cover with a dry towel or a sheet of parchment (to prevent drying). Place a sheet of parchment paper in front of you to work on, and have a baking sheet nearby. Place one sheet of phyllo on the parchment paper with the shorter side facing you. Lightly brush clarified butter across the top, in the center, and across the bottom. Fold the edge of the phyllo closest to you up to within 1 inch of the top edge. Place the wooden dowel on the bottom folded edge, with the end of the dowel meeting the left edge of the phyllo, and begin to loosely roll the phyllo around the dowel, stopping when you reach the inch of extra dough. Lift the dowel and gently push the phyllo to the left end, scrunching the dough together. Slide it off the dowel, and gently shape it into a circle, with the reserved inch of phyllo serving as the center of the nest. Place nest on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining sheets of phyllo. Bake until lightly golden, 15 minutes.
• Assembly: Remove from the oven and fill the centers of each nest with about 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios. Use a small measuring cup or ladle to soak each nest with 3 tablespoons of lemon syrup. Set aside to cool on the baking sheet. Once cool, use a spatula to remove the nests from the pan. Serve at room temperature with some of the extra syrup from the baking sheet.

PHYLLO NESTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush a 12-cup muffin tin with butter. Pull phyllo into 1-inch-thick bundles; cut bundles into 2-inch lengths. Place in a bowl; separate into a loose pile with fingers. Toss with butter, sugar, and cinnamon, if using.
• Divide among 12 muffin cups; press into bottom and up sides. Cook until golden and crisp around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool; fill with jelly beans.

PASTRY PHYLLO NESTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lay a sheet of phyllo dough out flat. Pick it up from the center as if it were a handkerchief. Continue with remaining 3 sheets. Set it down on a baking pan and twist and flatten the center down to create a free form "nest" of phyllo. Brush with butter and bake for 20 minutes or until crackling crisp and golden. Serve one per person and top with fruit, whipped cream or ice cream or drizzle with honey and scatter with chopped pistachios, almonds or walnuts.

PHYLLO NESTS

Steps:

• Cut your scraps into some semblance of strips. Gently toss your strips with melted butter. For each nest you will need about 1/2 cup phyllo strips and 2 teaspoons melted butter (don't worry about being super-exact). Fit this mix into greased muffin cups, molding it up the sides as best you can. Bake in a 350°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool. Fill with fruit. Or pudding.

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CREPE PAPER FLOWERS AND A PHYLLO NEST

Steps:

• Make the nest: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly brush a 1/3-cup-capacity round silicone mold with butter. In a bowl, gently toss butter and kataifi to combine.
• Lift kataifi out of bowl, gently stretching strands to form a loose rope. Lay 1 end in the cupped fingers of 1 hand. Gently spiral rope to shape into a nest.
• Fit nest into mold, pulling up edges to rest over rim. Place on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely in mold on a wire rack. Unmold. Dust with cocoa.
• Make the cake: Butter two 10-by-2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment cut to fit, and butter parchment. Dust with cocoa, and tap out excess. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a mixer. Add remaining ingredients. Mix on low speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Divide batter among prepared pans.
• Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into centers of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool in pans on wire racks for 45 minutes. Run a knife around edges of cakes to loosen, and turn onto racks. Remove parchment, turn cakes right side up, and let cool completely.
• Make the frosting: Sift confectioners' sugar, cocoa, and salt into a bowl. In the bowl of a mixer, beat cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add sugar mixture, beating until combined. Beat in melted chocolate and sour cream until combined.
• Make the garnish: Using a vegetable peeler, scrape chocolate at a 45-degree angle. Using a spatula, transfer curls to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 4 days).
• To assemble: Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to create level surfaces. Reserve trimmings. Place 1 cake, cut side up, on a cake stand. Spread 2 cups frosting over top. Top with remaining cake, cut side up. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides. Finely grind cake trimmings in a food processor. Sprinkle crumbs over top of cake.
• Using tweezers, gently press chocolate curls to sides of cake. Dust top with confectioners' sugar if desired. Decorate with nest, chocolate eggs, and flowers.

EASTER EGG CAKE POPS IN PHYLLO NESTS

Steps:

• Stir the lime zest, lime juice and salt into the frosting in a small bowl.
• Crumble the cake into a large bowl; break up large chunks, but don't crumble it too finely. Spoon the frosting into the bowl 1/2 cup at a time and mix thoroughly until the mixture holds its shape when pinched.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of cake mixture into your hands and roll it into a ball. Place on the baking sheet and continue with the remaining mixture, then chill the cake balls until firm, about 30 minutes in the freezer or 2 hours in the refrigerator.
• Remove the cake balls from the freezer. Roll each ball into an egg shape. Place on the baking sheet so that the egg is standing on its fatter end, pressing it down lightly so that it doesn't fall over. Freeze or refrigerate the eggs until you're ready to dip them.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Place the phyllo cups on a baking sheet and spray with oil spray. Bake until crisp, about 3 minutes.
• Stir together the chocolate chips and 2 teaspoons of the vegetable oil in a medium microwave-safe bowl or other microwave-safe container and microwave, stirring every so often, until completely softened. Stir well until the mixture is smooth, adding the remaining 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil if needed. Allow to cool until just warm.
• Place the candy sprinkles into small bowls or shallow dishes (you can do a separate bowl for each color or just do multicolored sprinkles for all the cake pops).
• Spear the flat end of an egg cake pop with a wooden skewer and dip the egg into the melted chocolate to coat. Allow the excess to drip off, then dip into or sprinkle with candy sprinkles while the coating is still wet. Place the skewer in a glass so the egg is upright. Repeat with the remaining egg cake pops. If the coating on the completed eggs begins to soften, put them back in the freezer or refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up again.
• Place the phyllo cups on a large serving platter. Put the coconut in a bowl and add a few drops of green food coloring, then stir until all the coconut is bright green, adding more food coloring if needed. Place a spoonful or two of the green coconut into each phyllo cup. Remove the eggs from the skewers, then nestle an egg into each cup. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

PHYLLO NESTS WITH STRAWBERRIES AND HONEY

Steps:

• Without unrolling phyllo log, cut 2 (3/8-inch-thick) slices crosswise from one end of log and thaw slices 5 minutes. (Save remaining frozen phyllo for another use.)
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Lightly brush a baking sheet with some of melted butter.
• Carefully unfurl slices from phyllo rolls on a work surface, discarding any plastic or paper rolled within. Gently separate strands, keeping them parallel, then gather into 4 groups, about 14 strands each. Cover 3 groups with plastic wrap. Gently hold one end of remaining (uncovered) group of strands and brush with some of melted butter, then dust with 1/2 teaspoon confectioners sugar using a fine-mesh sieve. Flip over and brush other side with butter and dust with confectioners sugar in same manner. Loosely coil up coated strands to form a small nest and put on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining clusters to form 3 more nests.
• Bake nests in middle of oven until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool nests on sheet on a rack, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Beat cream with granulated sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds soft peaks. Drizzle each phyllo nest all over with 1/4 teaspoon honey and put 1 tablespoon whipped cream in center. Top with strawberries and remaining cream, then drizzle each dessert with 1/4 teaspoon more honey.