Frigania is a Christmas dessert from the Greek island of Zakynthos

A traditional Mediterranean-inspired dessert that's rich in flavour and will satisfy your sweet tooth.

Celebrate Christmas with frigania. Source: Honey & Walnut Patisserie

Originating from Zakynthos, an Ionian island in Greece, frigania is a traditional dessert that locals enjoy over the summer. With a little twist, the Bozikis family has made it an ideal dessert for Christmas family celebrations.

Co-owner and pastry chef Peter Bozikis, tells SBS Food, "My parents migrated to Australia in the early 60s from Zakynthos and my mum, Chrysoula, always kept up Greek food traditions, especially when it came to traditional glyka, the desserts she had learned from her family."

Peter's mum, Chrysoula. Source: Supplied

That meant there was always galaktoboureko, baklava, pavlova or koulourakia served at the table during festive family celebrations. Frigania was only added to the food feast in the last 20 years when Chrysoula picked up the recipe from her sister-in-law, Voula, after a holiday to Zakynthos.

"On a summer holiday back in her hometown of Lithakia, my aunt Voula made this dessert for her, and she loved it," says Peter. "So, the recipe was passed on to my mum who began making it for us kids in Australia during our summer holidays and then for the Christmas family lunches."

The simple dessert, which involves soaking the frigania or Greek rusks in syrup, and adding custard to the middle and fresh cream with sprinkles of roasted almonds on top, was made by housewives all over Zakynthos. Then restaurants adopted it and they now serve it as a complimentary dish after each meal.   

"For Christmas lunch, mum slightly modifies it by topping the chilled cream with sour cherries, cranberries or pomegranates, and this is by far our favourite version as opposed to the traditional version with almond nuts she made for us during the summer holidays," says Peter.

My mum, Chrysoula, always kept up Greek food traditions, especially when it came to traditional glyka, the desserts she had learned from her family.

When Peter graduated from TAFE as a pastry chef in 1999, he spent summers working in Zakynthos, including time in his aunt Voula's kitchen, learning the local cuisine. This is where he learned how to make frigania and got to know her technique. Coupled with watching his own mum make it in her kitchen, he gradually created his own recipe where instead of adding custard (a combination of milk, corn flour and eggs) he opted to use fresh cream. He added lemon juice with just enough sugar to keep the cream moist and not too sweet.

"This way the milk won't curdle, and it also gives the dessert a zest of fresh lemon flavour. And topped with sour cherries and cranberries it becomes an ideal festive dessert that all ages will enjoy," he explains

After years of working in the industry as a pastry chef, mostly for Greek bakeries, and establishing The Sweet Spot Patisserie in Randwick (which he sold in 2016), he opened Honey and Walnut Patisserie in Dulwich Hill with Peter Kalamvokis in December 2021. It's a cosy 20-seater cafe where everything is made from scratch. 

"Our aim is to give our diverse range of customers a very homely feeling which is why all our sweets and savoury delights are handmade, with the freshest ingredients and our gelatine and creams are halal," says Peter Bozikis.

They use family recipes to make their products, including Chrysoulla's secret recipe to make the koulourakia biscuits. Peter Kalamvokis' mum, Joy, who was born in Corinth, a city in south-central Greece, makes the pastitsio and moussaka on a daily basis.

The patisserie caters for vegans, vegetarians and those who follow a gluten-free diet. Their menu is evolving, and in addition to offering a variety of savoury pies, they offer occasion cakes, chocolate and fresh-fruit pastries. 

During the Christmas and festive season, they will bake gingerbread houses, and chocolate biscuit Christmas trees, and prepare platters and hampers that include frigania.

"I added frigania to the menu only during weekends for now, and the customers who try it also love it," says Peter.

Frigania is a dessert from Zakynthos. Source: Honey & Walnut Patisserie

"As we grow and develop, it will be the sweet I will promote more, but for now I want people to know that everything we make has a professional and homemade element to it, as we want our customers to enjoy high-quality foods while having that sense of feeling-at-home when they visit us."  

 

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Frigania

Makes 16 

Ingredients

Base

• 15 Greek rusks
• 500 ml water
• 650 g sugar
• 2 slices of lemon
• 1 cinnamon stick

Pastry cream  

• 900 ml thickened cream
• 100 ml lemon juice
• 100 g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 60 g cornflour
• vanilla essence

Finishing layer

• 800 ml thickened cream
• 80 g caster sugar
• Vanilla essence

Method 

1. Place the Greek rusks into a 10-inch square cake tin.
2. Boil the syrup for three minutes and pour it onto the rusks.
3. Boil the cream with lemon juice and sugar. 
4. Place the cornflour and eggs in a separate bowl. Gradually pour a spoonful of cream into the eggs and cornflour as the cream heats up. When the cream starts to boil, place the mixture into the pot, mixing continuously. 
5. Pour pastry cream into a cake tin. Cling wrap the cream so it doesn't dry and form a skin. Chill in the freezer for 10 minutes.   
6. Whip the remaining cream with sugar and vanilla. Remove cake tin from the freezer and spread on an even layer of cream.
7. Chill for 10 minutes then remove from the freezer. 
8. Garnish with sour cherries, cranberries or pomegranates.   
9. Divide into 16 pieces.