Greek Orange Cake – Portokalopita
Syropiasta is a type of dessert, or rather, a whole group of desserts and cakes soaked in sweet syrup. They are characteristic of Greece and the Middle East. Portokalopita falls into this category. It’s a Greek cake made with filo pastry and orange juice. If you’re going on vacation to Greece, you have to try it.
My first thought when I ate this cake was “I know the taste, but not the texture”. It seemed a bit strange, but familiar. The next bite, and a different feeling: interesting, unique, and delicious!
Eating this cake makes you feel like you’ve had it before. It’s a mix of the flavors of a Polish lemon babka and Turkish baklava. A citrus aroma and sweet taste, but a very moist texture.
Unlike babka, it’s most often served with ice cream, such as vanilla ice cream. It’s also baked quite differently.
The cake is prepared similarly to baklava, using filo pastry and, after baking, pouring sugar syrup over the baked pastry. Although it may seem complicated at first glance, this cake is a winner every time. It’s rather difficult to mess it up. The only downside is that you have to wait a few hours for the cake to absorb the syrup. It’s best to refrigerate it overnight. This makes it firmer and easier to slice. It develops a sweet flavor and a citrus-cinnamon aroma. It can be served year-round, thanks to the availability of all the ingredients.
TIP:
When preparing this type of cake, follow this rule:
If the cake is hot, pour the cold syrup over it. If the cake is cold, pour the hot syrup over it.
This means you can prepare the sugar syrup in the meantime and pour it over the cake immediately after removing it from the oven, or bake the cake first, then prepare the syrup and pour it over the cooled cake. The choice is yours.
Recipe modifications:
- Pastry: Instead of filo pastry, you can use raw (or fried, then there’s no need to dry it) kataifi pastry. There’s no need to cut it. However, in my opinion, the portokalopita has a better structure with filo pastry, and the syrup penetrates it better.
- Coconut flakes: You can add it, but you don’t have to. If you’re a coconut fan or want more texture, add about 0.5 cup of desiccated coconut when mixing the pastry with the egg mixture.
- Oranges: If you want the cake to be a bit tart or give it a more lemon or lime flavor, you can add both the juice and zest of other citrus fruits. For example, replace 0.5 cup of orange juice with lemon juice.
- Greek yogurt: You can replace it with another yogurt, such as Skyr. This will give the cake more protein. It’s important that the yogurt you choose is thick.
How many oranges should I buy for the juice?
For this recipe, you need 300 g (you can also use a measuring cup in ml) of orange juice. The question is, how much fruit do you need? It depends. Depending on how juicy the oranges you buy, you’ll need more or less fruits. For very juicy fruit, 3 oranges will be enough, but if you get some that are a bit wilted, you might need even 10. I recommend buying 5 – 7 oranges. If there’s a bit too little juice, it’s okay; the cake will simply be a bit less orangey. Choose fairly heavy, soft oranges with thin skin. They’ll have more flesh and, therefore, more juice.
Are filo pastry and puff pastry the same?
Filo pastry is a very thin sheet of dough made from water, flour, and salt. After baking, it is very crunchy. Puff pastry, on the other hand, contains a lot of fat (originally butter, although pre-made puff pastry in supermarkets usually contains palm oil). After baking, it becomes fluffy, but not as crispy as filo pastry. Raw filo pastry is much thinner than puff pastry, tears easily, and dries out quickly. It often requires additional greasing. Filo pastry can be used to make many snacks just like puff pastry. I don’t recommend substituting filo pastry for puff pastry for this recipe.
The following proportions make about 12 servings of orange cake, each weighing about 200 g. Read the step-by-step recipe for how to make the orange juice cake and watch the video below.
Also, subscribe to the SaltedPasta YouTube channel and subscribe to the newsletter so you don’t miss any recipes!
Greek Orange Cake – Portokalopita
Video
Greek Orange Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 500 g filo pastry (approx. 12 sheets)
- 20 g baking powder
- 150 g sugar
- 4 eggs
- 300 g Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp orange zest (from 2 oranges)
- 100 g fresh orange juice (0,5 – 2 oranges)
- 200 ml olive oil
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar
- salt
- oil (for greasing the pan)
Syrup
- 150 g water
- 400 g sugar
- 300 g fresh orange juice (2 – 4 oranges)
- 1 tsp orange zest (from 1 orange)
- 1 stick cinnamon
Instructions
- Cut the filo pastry into 2 cm wide strips. They should resemble pappardelle pasta. Lay the pieces out individually, flat e.g. on baking sheets if you have several, to allow the pastry to dry. You can also dry the pastry in the oven, which will significantly speed up the process. Bake the pastry in batches so that all the pieces dry. I bake in three batches, baking two baking sheets at a time. Bake the pastry at approximately 150 °C (
300 °F) for approximately 5 minutes per batch. Check if the pastry is dry. It should be crispy and may brown slightly.500 g filo pastry
- While the filo pastry is drying, prepare the sugar syrup. Place all the syrup ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.150 g water, 400 g sugar, 300 g fresh orange juice, 1 tsp orange zest, 1 stick cinnamon
- Once all the dough is dry, you can prepare the egg mixture. In a separate bowl, thoroughly whisk together the yogurt and orange juice. In another bowl, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt until frothy. Then add the sugar, yogurt-juice mixture, olive oil, baking powder, and vanilla sugar. Once all the ingredients are combined, reduce the speed to low or start mixing by hand. In small batches, begin adding the crumbled dried filo pastry.20 g baking powder, 150 g sugar, 4 eggs, 300 g Greek yogurt, 2 tsp orange zest, 100 g fresh orange juice, 200 ml olive oil, 2 tsp vanilla sugar, salt
- Once the batter and filo pastry have been thoroughly mixed, pour the mixture into an oiled ovenproof dish. Place in an oven preheated to 175°C (347 °F) and bake for approximately 55 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.oil
- Remove the baked cake from the oven and, while still warm, prick it several times with a fork. Then pour the strained syrup over it. The cake will absorb all the syrup. Once the cake has cooled, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours. Serve with a scoop of ice cream. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet