Galaktoboureko

Thaw frozen phyllo in fridge overnight.
Remove phyllo from fridge an hour before making galaktoboureko.

To make the syrup:

In a small saucepan, mix water, sugar, lemon juice, orange rind, and cinnamon stick together and bring to a boil.

Lower heat, and simmer until sugar has dissolved.

Remove from heat, and set aside to cool to room temperature.

With a hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat the four eggs and 3/4 cup of sugar until pale yellow — about 4-5 minutes.

Set aside.

In a medium/large pot, add five cups of milk and 1/2 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Add one cup of semolina and a pinch of salt.
Whisk until mixture thickens — you will see very big bubbles break the surface, almost like lava.

Remove from heat and stir in 1/3 cup of butter, vanilla, and grated orange zest.

Let the semolina mixture cool for 10 minutes, but stir every couple of minutes so a skin doesn't form on top.

After ten minutes, it is safe to add the beaten egg and sugar mixture.
Fold in gently and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and butter a 13" x 9" (23 cm x 34 cm) pan.

Take your phyllo out of the package.
Hint: Don’t open up your phyllo sheets until you've finished making the custard or they will dry out.

Melt one cup of butter in a bowl.

Lay two phyllo sheets down onto the buttered pan and, with a pastry brush, drizzle with butter on the second sheet only.

Repeat this four times — two sheets of phyllo, drizzle with butter — until you have eight sheets on the bottom.

Pour the custard into the pan and smooth the top.

Repeat the two phyllo sheets with drizzled butter as you did on the bottom until you have eight sheets of phyllo on top.

For the top sheet, instead of drizzling the butter, gently spread the butter with the pastry brush until the whole sheet is covered with butter..

Tuck in the edges of the phyllo with the pastry brush to seal the galaktoboureko and to make it pretty.

Cut down the length (two times) and width (four times) with a sharp knife to make 15 squares, making sure to only cut through the top layers of phyllo.

Pour all remaining melted butter evenly on top (but not the milk solids at the bottom).