Portokalopita (Greek Orange Cake)

INGREDIENTS

Syrup:

• 1 ½ cups water

• 1 ½ cups sugar

• 1/3 cup orange juice

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1/4 teaspoon orange blossom water optional

Cake:

• 450 grams Phyllo sheets 1 lb or 16 oz

• 4 eggs

• 3/4 cup sugar

• zest from two oranges

• 1 cup plain Greek yoghurt we used 2%

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup vegetable oil (we suggest replacing this with Kefi Life EVOO of course!)

• 1/2 cup orange juice

• vegetable oil for greasing baking pan

This recipe & these photos come to us from Mia Kouppa — Check out her page for more incredible recipes and even watch a making of video of this cake!

DIRECTIONS

• Start by preparing the syrup.  Combine the water, sugar, orange juice, the cinnamon stick and the orange blossom water, if you are using it.  Bring the ingredients to a boil;  once it starts boiling, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool completely.

1 ½ cups water, 1 ½ cups sugar, 1/3 cup orange juice, 1 cinnamon stick, 1/4 teaspoon orange blossom water

• While the syrup is being prepared, you must dry out the phyllo.  We have found that the best, and easiest way to do this is to bake it.  Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Open up your phyllo sheets, and one by one, scrunch them up, starting from the short side.  After scrunching a sheet, place it on a baking pan and continue until you have used the entire pack of phyllo.  Be careful that you don't scrunch them too tight. You will need 2 baking sheets to accommodate all of your phyllo. 

  450 grams Phyllo sheets

• Bake in the middle and bottom racks of your oven for 10 minutes.  After the 10 minutes have passed, flip each phyllo sheet over and bake for an additional 8 minutes this time altering the position of each baking tray (so the one which started in the middle goes to the bottom rack and vice versa). Turn off your oven and leave the phyllo in the oven. Keep the oven door open slightly (you can use a folded kitchen towel or oven mitt to do this) to further dry out the phyllo. Once completely dry use your hands to crumble the phyllo into small pieces, and set them aside.

  • Note: We usually buy fresh phyllo sheets; however, if frozen is all you can find, go for it.  Simply defrost your phyllo in the fridge overnight.  Be sure to defrost the phyllo in the refrigerator as doing so on the counter will result in soggy phyllo sheets.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• In the large mixing bowl of a stand mixer combine the eggs and the sugar and beat for 3 - 4 minutes, until it is a pale yellow colour.  Alternatively you can use a hand mixer.

  4 eggs, 3/4 cup sugar

• Add the orange zest, Greek yoghurt, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and mix until just combined.

  zest from two oranges, 1 cup plain Greek yoghurt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt

• Next add the oil and the orange juice to the bowl, and mix to combine well with the rest of the ingredients.

  1 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup orange juice

• Using a rubber spatula begin to incorporate your dried out and torn phyllo into the cake batter, a little bit at a time.  If you put all the pieces in at once, they will clump together. (Note: we like to pour the liquid ingredients into a bowl much larger than our stand mixer bowl - this just makes folding in the phyllo easier, but it is not necessary).

• After you have incorporated all of your phyllo into the batter, pour the mixture into a greased baking pan (we use a glass 9x13 baking pan).  Bake for 50-60 minutes in the middle rack of your oven until your portokalopita is a nice golden colour.  Check it at 50 minutes. You don't want to burn it.

• Once your portokalopita is baked remove it from the oven and immediately pierce it in several places with a long clean skewer.

• Pour your cooled syrup onto the hot cake, one ladle at at time.  Allow each ladle to be absorbed into the cake before adding the next one.  Repeat until all of the syrup has been used.

• Let your cake cool before cutting, to allow the syrup to be fully absorbed.

• Enjoy!

NOTES

• This cake is actually better the day after it's baked.  

• We love to serve this cake with some vanilla ice cream on the side, or some Greek yoghurt.  

• We used freshly squeezed orange juice for this recipe, however, you can replace it with a good quality store bought orange juice.

• Any leftovers can be refrigerated.  You can then either heat the cake up prior to eating it, or serve it cold or at room temperature.  Experiment with what you prefer!