Greek Orange Phyllo Cake (Portokalopita)
Written by
Jann Warner
My mother had been the best trifle maker on planet Earth, so the very first Christmas that she was no longer seated at our table, I made a Greek Orange Phyllo Cake for dessert. Rather than replicate an inferior imitation of her trifle, I opted to serve something completely different, obviously one with a Greek twist. We've served it every Christmas since!
This is a super-easy to prepare yet delicious Greek orange cake made with phyllo pastry - it's rich and sweet, and is ideal as a dessert - serve it with a scoop of dairy ice cream, topped with a small decoration or a chocolate. My grandchildren, Joshua and Charlotte love decorating the dessert with thinly sliced oranges and adding a little extra Christmas finery. Kalí órexi!
This is a super-easy to prepare yet delicious Greek orange cake made with phyllo pastry - it's rich and sweet, and is ideal as a dessert - serve it with a scoop of dairy ice cream, topped with a small decoration or a chocolate. My grandchildren, Joshua and Charlotte love decorating the dessert with thinly sliced oranges and adding a little extra Christmas finery. Kalí órexi!
Ingredients for the cake
1 x 400g phyllo pastry (if frozen, defrost prior to using)
3 Oranges
5 Eggs
250 ml Greek yoghurt
3/4 cup Olive oil
1/2 cup White sugar
1 Tablespoon baking power
Ingredients for the sauce
2 cups White sugar
1 1/2 cups Water
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1 Orange, halved
Directions for the cake
1
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
2
Remove the defrosted phyllo sheets from the package and place them on a kitchen table countertop (next to each other, like a patchwork quilt). While the phyllo is drying out, prepare the remaining ingredients
3
Cut 1 orange in half - slice 1 of the halves into very thin half-moons with which to decorate the cake
4
Grate the zest and squeeze the juice of the remaining 2 ½ oranges
5
Combine the orange juice and zest, eggs, yoghurt, olive oil, ½ cup of sugar, and baking powder in a food processor or blender.Blend together at high speed for about 2 minutes until the mixture becomes frothy. Let it stand for a short while you check up on the phyllo sheets
6
If the phyllo sheets have dried, then tear each sheet roughly into shreds and pile up the pieces in the baking tin or ovenproof dish - you can have fun ripping them into pieces
7
Pour the frothy orange and egg mixture over the shredded phyllo in the baking tin or ovenproof dish. Stir everything together gently to make sure that the egg mixture is evenly distributed
8
Decorate the top of the cake with the orange slices
9
Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes until the top is a golden colour and the filling has set
10
Take the cake out of the oven and straight away pour the now cooled syrup mixture carefully over the piping hot cake - this is a magic moment as you watch the sauce sink into the cake - yumminess in progress
11
Set aside for at least 1 hour, until virtually all of the syrup has soaked right in - almost ready to tantalise your guests taste buds
12
Slice into about 12 squares. Serve with a scoop of ice-cream. Pop a small decoration or chocolate on top of the ice-cream to make it look really festive. Ta-da!
Directions for the sauce
1
Combine 2 cups sugar, water, and cinnamon in a saucepan over medium-high heat
2
Squeeze the juice from the halved oranges
3
Add the juice and the juiced halves to the mixture in the saucepan
4
Bring slowly to the boil, then turn up the heat and boil vigorously for 8 minutes
5
Remove saucepan from the heat and set aside to cool while you prepare the cake
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Published on 27 October, 2020