Karydopita
A Greek cake from the syrup-soaked family, which follows one iron rule: hot cake takes cold syrup (or the reverse), never both hot. With that difference the syrup soaks evenly through while the cake keeps its structure; when both are hot the cake easily turns soggy and gluey. The other detail: the walnuts are chopped by knife, not ground, so they stay perceptible.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Syrup 20 min
- Batter 20 min
- Baking 45 min
- Soaking 35 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneBoil the syrup and cool it completely
Bring the sugar, water, honey, cinnamon stick, orange peel and cloves to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice, pour into a wide bowl and cool completely — it will be cold by the time the cake comes out of the oven. The lemon juice stops the syrup crystallising in the finished cake.
Ingredients: 400 g sugar · 350 ml water · 3 tbsp honey · 1 pcs cinnamon · 1 pcs orange · 3 pcs cloves · ½ pcs lemon
Made early — it has to be fully cold.Chop the walnuts by knife
Set aside 16 nice halves for decoration and chop the rest with a knife into uneven pieces, not in a processor. A processor grinds them to oily flour that disappears into the batter — in karydopita the walnut should register in every mouthful.
Ingredients: 350 g walnuts · 150 g breadcrumbs · 100 g plain flour · 6 pcs eggs · 180 g sugar · 180 g butter · 2 tsp baking powder · 2 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp cloves · 3 tbsp brandy
Uneven knife-cut pieces, not processor flour.Whisk the eggs and sugar until voluminous
Whisk the eggs with the sugar for 8 minutes, until tripled and pale. This is the only aeration in the cake — breadcrumbs and walnuts are heavy, so without properly whisked eggs it bakes dense.
Ingredients: 350 g walnuts · 150 g breadcrumbs · 100 g plain flour · 6 pcs eggs · 180 g sugar · 180 g butter · 2 tsp baking powder · 2 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp cloves · 3 tbsp brandy
Fold in the dry ingredients and butter
Combine the breadcrumbs, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and walnuts and fold into the eggs with a spatula in three additions, then the melted butter and brandy. Breadcrumbs in place of some flour give moisture and a coarse texture.
Ingredients: 350 g walnuts · 150 g breadcrumbs · 100 g plain flour · 6 pcs eggs · 180 g sugar · 180 g butter · 2 tsp baking powder · 2 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp cloves · 3 tbsp brandy
Bake 45 minutes
Pour into a greased, deep 25 by 35 cm tin and bake 40–45 minutes at 175°C, until a skewer comes out clean. The cake must be well baked — underbaked, it collapses once the syrup goes on.
Ingredients: 350 g walnuts · 150 g breadcrumbs · 100 g plain flour · 6 pcs eggs · 180 g sugar · 180 g butter · 2 tsp baking powder · 2 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp cloves · 3 tbsp brandy
Score into diamonds while hot
Take the cake out and score it into diamonds with a sharp knife, right to the base. The cuts open a route for the syrup to travel down — without them it only wets the top layer and the base stays dry.
Ingredients: 350 g walnuts · 150 g breadcrumbs · 100 g plain flour · 6 pcs eggs · 180 g sugar · 180 g butter · 2 tsp baking powder · 2 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp cloves · 3 tbsp brandy
Pour cold syrup over the hot cake
Ladle the cold syrup evenly over the hot cake, covering the whole surface. You will hear it hiss — the syrup goes straight in. This is the moment that decides the result.
Ingredients: 400 g sugar · 350 ml water · 3 tbsp honey · 1 pcs cinnamon · 1 pcs orange · 3 pcs cloves · ½ pcs lemon
Hot cake, cold syrup — the hiss means it is absorbing.Leave it half an hour
Let the cake stand for at least 35 minutes, until it has drawn up the syrup from the base of the tin — after a few hours it is moister still. Serve at room temperature, with a walnut half on each piece and, as in Greece, coffee or a spoonful of yogurt.
Ingredients: 350 g walnuts · 150 g breadcrumbs · 100 g plain flour · 6 pcs eggs · 180 g sugar · 180 g butter · 2 tsp baking powder · 2 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp cloves · 3 tbsp brandy
Before you start
A whole family of syrup cakes
The same technique is used for semolina revani, orange and filo portokalopita and basbousa. The hot–cold rule applies to all of them, and breaking it is a common reason these cakes fail.
Breadcrumbs are not economising
In Greek nut cakes breadcrumbs replace some of the flour deliberately: they absorb syrup better than flour and give the characteristic slightly coarse crumb. Use fine, pale, unseasoned ones.
A week at room temperature
The syrup preserves the cake — karydopita keeps about a week covered, out of the fridge, and is even better the next day. Refrigerated it hardens from the butter, so keep it on the counter.
