Portokalopita - Greek Orange Syrup Cake with Phyllo 🍊🍰

Name: Portokalopita - Greek Orange Syrup Cake with Phyllo 🍊🍰
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 210 min
Ingredients: 2 cups caster sugar; 1 1/4 cups water; 1/2 cup orange juice (fresh); 1 orange peel; 1 cinnamon stick; 2 Tablespoons orange blossom water (optional, a.k.a. anthonero - see note #1 ); 1 pound phyllo dough (a.k.a filo pastry); 1 cup caster sugar; 4 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 1/2 Tablespoons orange zest; 4 large eggs; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/2 cup orange juice (fresh); 1 cup olive oil (see note #2); 1 1/4 cups Greek yogurt; 1/3 cup desiccated coconut (optional)

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Making Portokalopita, one of the best Greek desserts, is easier than you think! This traditional recipe for Greek orange cake with phyllo and yogurt is super moist, thanks to a fragrant syrup, and bursts with orange flavor.

A slice of portokalopita (greek orange cake) on a plate, topped with ice cream.

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📋 Portokalopita Ingredients
🔪 How to Make Greek Orange Cake
👨‍🍳 Expert Tips
🎥 Recipe Video
📖 Recipe

This traditional Portokalopita recipe is best made one day ahead, because it needs some time to absorb the rich orange-flavored syrup. It is made with phyllo pastry, Greek yogurt and olive oil. Many other recipes use a neutral tasting vegetable oil, but all the years I've been making it, I have found that the olive oil complements the orange flavour perfectly.

Portokalopita means "orange pie" in Greek. This is because in Greece a layer cake is usually called "pita", such as sokolatopita (chocolate layer cake) or Fanouropita (Saint Fanourios cake).

For more delicious Greek dessert recipes make sure to check this Greek Ekmek Kataifi, a show-stopping treat with kataifi pastry soaked in scented syrup, silky vanilla custard and clouds of whipped cream, this homemade Greek rice pudding (Rizogalo), or this delicious, syrupy Greek baklava with walnuts and honey.

😍 Why I love this Orange Cake

✓ Triple orange flavor: This super moist orange cake is flavored with 3 different types of orange flavoring (orange zest, fresh orange juice and orange blossom water) for the best orange-tasting dessert.

✓ Easy recipe: You can make it with just a bowl and a whisk. You don't even need a hand mixer!

✓ With Greek yogurt and olive oil: I'm not going to lie, this Greek orange cake has a lot of sugar. However the tartness of the Greek yogurt balances out the sweetness (and provides some extra protein too) and the olive oil offers some healthy fat!

📋 Portokalopita Ingredients

To make this authentic orange syrup cake, you'll need the following ingredients:

The phyllo dough is also known as filo pastry and usually comes in 1 pound (450 grams) tubes. It is used instead of flour in the traditional orange phyllo cake.

Choose a mild tasting extra virgin olive oil or if you find its taste strong, use half olive oil and half sunflower oil or corn oil.

Desiccated coconut is optional. It is not used in the traditional Greek recipe for portokalopita with filo pastry, but I find that it complements the orange flavor perfectly.

If you don't have orange blossom water double the orange peel for the syrup.

🥣 Variations

With semolina instead of filo pastry. This variation has a texture similar to this Greek Revani cake (recipe by miakouppa.com) but with orange flavour.
Add chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate to the batter. If you're a chocolate lover, don't miss this chocolate pistachio cake with kataifi (inspired by the viral Dubai chocolate bar).
Use a mix citrus fruits. Instead of using only orange zest and orange peel, you can enhance the citrus flavor by using lemon, lime, mandarin and even grapefruit.

🔪 How to Make Greek Orange Cake

Follow this easy step-by-step guide to learn how to make the best portokalopita with filo pastry:

1. Shred the phyllo and let it dry. You can do this by hand, but the easiest way is to roll the phyllo sheets and cut them into thin strips with a sharp knife.

Transfer the strips to a large pan (or baking dish) and fluff them up very well making sure the pieces are not stuck to each other (this will ensure a fluffy cake). You can let them dry at room temperature for half an hour but I recommend drying them in the oven while you preheat it.

A hand adding orange juice to a pot with water and sugar.

2. Make the orange-flavored syrup. Transfer the ingredients for the syrup to a small pot and bring to a boil. Let the syrup boil for 1 minute and remove from the heat.

Two hands breaking an egg over the bowl with the sugar mixture.

3. Transfer the sugar, the baking powder, the salt and the orange zest to a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and whisk until frothy.

A hand adding orange juice and Greek yogurt to the egg mixture.

4. Add the orange juice, the olive oil and the Greek yogurt to the egg mixture and whisk until combined. If you use desiccated coconut add that too.

Two hands adding the shredded phyllo to the cake batter and mixing it with a spatula.

5. Crumble the dried phyllo with your hands into tiny pieces and add it to the batter in small batches, mixing well with a spatula after each addition.

Make sure that the phyllo pieces are very loose and not stuck to each other as this will result in a dense cake.
Be careful, if you add all the phyllo at once, a big clump will form and the cake will not have the proper texture.

Pouring the cake batter into the baking dish.

6. Pour the cake batter into a greased baking dish and bake until golden brown.

Spooning the cooled syrup over the hot cake.

7. Once you take the orange cake out of the oven, poke holes with a skewer (or a knife) and gradually ladle the cooled syrup over the surface of the hot cake. The cake will need some time to absorb all of the syrup, so it's best to add small portions of the syrup every 10-15 minutes until all of the syrup is used.

Let the cake rest in the refrigerator overnight. Serve cold or let it come to room temperature. A scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream transforms this Greek portokalopita from an everyday sweet treat to the most festive dessert you'll ever have!

For the ultimate Greek experience, serve this portokalopita with a cup of freshly brewed Greek coffee.

👨‍🍳 Expert Tips

✤ Make it a day ahead. Portokalopita needs time to soak the syrup and cool down. It also needs time for the syrup to distribute evenly throughout the cake. Making it a day ahead will give you the best results.

✤ Dry the phyllo very well. Use a large pan or baking sheet to spread the shredded phyllo because it will dry faster when it's spread onto a large surface. Put it in the oven while it's preheating to speed up this process.

✤ Add the crumbled/shredded phyllo in small batches into the cake batter and mix well before the next addition. If you add all the phyllo at once, it will form big clumps and the orange pie will have a dense and non-uniform texture.

✤ Greek cuisine has a "rule" regarding cakes and pastries with syrup. When adding the syrup to the cake either the cake should be hot and the syrup cold or the opposite (the cake cold and the syrup hot).

💭 FAQs

How do you pronounce Portokalopita?

Portokalopita is pronounced "por-to-kah-lo-peeta" and it comes from the word "portokali" which means orange in Greek and the word "pita" which means pie (or cake) in Greek.

Does portokalopita need to be refrigerated?

Portokalopita is best stored in the refrigerator. You can then either let it come to room temperature about 30 minutes before serving it or serve it cold.