Orange and broken filo pastry pie

Orange and broken filo pastry pie

Mastering this pie to make it perfectly light and fluffy takes time, but it's absolutely irresistible once you do. Using filo pastry instead of flour creates these amazing layers in the cake and texturally it becomes both soft and crispy at the same time. The syrup then soaks everything and as it’s not heavy and thick, the cake remains light and airy.

Ingredients

For the cake
  • 1 pack (500g/1lb 2oz) baklava filo pastry
  • 250 g caster sugar
  • 250 g Greek yogurt
  • 250 ml rapeseed oil
  • 5 organic eggs
  • 2 unwaxed oranges, zest only
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 pack (500g/1lb 2oz) baklava filo pastry
  • 8.8 oz caster sugar
  • 8.8 oz Greek yogurt
  • 8.8 fl oz rapeseed oil
  • 5 organic eggs
  • 2 unwaxed oranges, zest only
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 pack (500g/1lb 2oz) baklava filo pastry
  • 8.8 oz caster sugar
  • 8.8 oz Greek yogurt
  • 1.1 cups rapeseed oil
  • 5 organic eggs
  • 2 unwaxed oranges, zest only
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
For the syrup
  • 500 g caster sugar
  • 200 ml fresh orange juice
  • 500 ml water
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 cardamom pods
  • 1 unwaxed orange, zest only
  • 1 pinch fresh bay leaves (optional)
  • 17.6 oz caster sugar
  • 7 fl oz fresh orange juice
  • 17.6 fl oz water
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 cardamom pods
  • 1 unwaxed orange, zest only
  • 1 pinch fresh bay leaves (optional)
  • 17.6 oz caster sugar
  • 0.8 cup fresh orange juice
  • 2.1 cups water
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 cardamom pods
  • 1 unwaxed orange, zest only
  • 1 pinch fresh bay leaves (optional)

Details

  • Cuisine: Greek
  • Recipe Type: Pie
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Preparation Time: 20 mins
  • Cooking Time: 80 mins
  • Serves: 4

Step-by-step

  1. Preheat the oven to 140°C/275°F/gas mark 1. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) round cake tin.
  2. Cut the filo pastry into thin strips and place on a baking tray. Dry in the oven for about 20 minutes or until crisp. Increase the oven temperature to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3.
  3. Whisk all the cake ingredients together in a bowl, preferably using an electric mixer, for a couple of minutes.
  4. When the filo is dry enough, add it to the cake mixture and mix with a wooden spoon. Pour into the cake tin and cook for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until it is golden and a knife comes out of the cake clean.
  5. While the cake is cooking, make the syrup. Place all the syrup ingredients in a pan, bring to the boil and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
  6. When the cake comes out the oven, remove the cinnamon and cardamom pods from the lukewarm syrup and pour it over the cake. You may need to make some holes on the surface of the cake with a cocktail stick to allow the syrup to soak in.
  7. If you like, you can serve this cake with bay leaf dust. Blitz a few fresh bay leaves in a spice grinder or food processor then rub through a fine sieve to get a bright green dust that will really complement the orange aromas and look fabulous too.

This recipe is from Aegean by Marianna Leivaditaki. Published by Kyle Books, £26.00. Photography by Elena Heatherwick.

You might also like:

Lemon thyme, honey and almond cake

Courgette, pistachio and lime loaf cake

Caramelised fig semolina loaf

Comments


Be the first to comment

Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature

Copyright © lovefood.com All rights reserved.