We are on a bit of a filo pastry theme (simply because I have bought too much) so we have tried a Greek orange cake called 'portokalopita'. I am afraid I simply could not swallow it as it is one of the sweetest desserts I have ever tasted (probably together with baklava, which I also dislike as I cannot stand honey) I nevertheless love the name and the smell that this leaves in the kitchen. The kids thought the taste was OK. And if you have a very sweet tooth this is definitely your dessert. We got the recipe from a website called 'my greek dish' but we cut down the amount of syrup (no offence to the Greeks but this cake will massive improve by not using any syrup at all and serving it with yogurt)
You need:
- a packet of filo pastry
- 300 ml orange juice
- 300 g sugar
- 300 ml sunflower or corn oil plus a bit more to grease the tray
- 200 gr greek yogurt
- zest of 1.5 oranges
- 4 teaspoons baking powder (this is not a typo, it really is four)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
for the syrup:
- 200 gr water
- 150 gr sugar
- zest of an orange
Open the filo pastry and let it dry overnight ( or for an hours).
Preheat the oven at 175 degrees.
Mix the yogurt, oil, orange juice, zest, sugar and vanilla extract. Then add the baking powered. Finally crumble the filo and add it to the mixture. Grease a baking tray with the oil and pour the mixture in. Bake for 45 minutes.
While it is baking make a syrup (if you are using it) by boiling the water, sugar and zest of the orange. Let it simmer for 10 minutes and then let it cool down.
As soon as you take the cake out of the oven pour the syrup on top. Let it all cool down before eating it.