About the Recipe
Portokalopita is a traditional Greek cake that originated in home kitchens as a practical way to use leftover or dried-out phyllo dough. It is made by crumbling or shredding phyllo sheets, mixing them into a batter of yogurt, eggs, sugar, oil, and orange zest, baking the mixture, and then soaking the hot cake in a cold orange syrup made with sugar, water, and orange juice. It is served as a moist, syrup-soaked dessert (glyko), often for gatherings and celebrations.
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
300 g phyllo pastry sheets, leftover or stale bits
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
zest from 1 1/2 oranges
2/3 cup full fat Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup olive oil
6 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200F. Add phyllo to a large baking dish. Bake it low and slow until crumbly – about 30-40 minutes, scrunch with your hands every 10 minutes. When finished the phyllo should be completely dry and crumbly. Set aside to cool. Prepare the 9 inch springform pan by greasing with 1-2 tbsp butter and then dust with flour. Set aside. Once the phyllo is cooled, preheat the oven to 350F.
Step 2
Make the orange syrup: Place the sugar, fresh orange juice, water and cinnamon stick in a small pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to low, keeping at a simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture will be slightly syrupy. Set aside to cool completely.
Step 3
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the sugar and eggs vigorously for 1-2 minutes until combined, slightly lighter in colour and frothy. Add the orange zest, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda and whisk well until combined. Next add the olive oil and fresh squeezed orange juice and whisk until combined. Finally, crumble the phyllo into fine pieces. Then, add in the finely crumbled phyllo gradually into the cake batter, continually whisking so the pieces don’t get super clumpy. Pour the cake batter into the prepared springform pan. Bake in the 350F preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, until nicely golden brown and a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
Step 4
Once the cake is baked, immediately use a skewer to poke holes into the cake and then ladle the cooled orange syrup all over the hot cake, one ladle at a time, letting the cake absorb the syrup before adding another ladleful of syrup. Repeat until all of the syrup has been used. Let the cake fully cool before cutting and serving.