Portokalopita Recipe - Greek Orange Pie

Any restaurant that brings out a complimentary dessert goes WAY up in the rankings - the way to my heart is definitely through sugar. But when a restaurant brings you a complimentary dessert AND said dessert is Portokalopita, it goes straight to No.1!

Portokalopita is Greek orange pie, the name comes from portokali, which is the Greek word for orange, and pita which is the Greek work for pie. It's definitely not a cake. It's a moist, zesty, syrupy but surprisingly refreshing dessert made primarily from filo pastry. And just 2-3 juicy oranges add the perfect amount of fresh orange flavour.

This recipe is super easy to make, I really should make it more often - but the problem is I end up eating the entire tray! I first made this by accident after looking for flour for another recipe but instead stumbling across some old, dry filo pastry in my freezer that was no good for anything else. Turns our old, dry filo pastry is absolutely PERFECT for orange pie. You can use fresh filo pastry too (it's about 40 cent from the supermarket!) but you'll need to dry it out in the oven first, no big deal.

The only fiddle is zesting the oranges, but it's worth the effort. Or have a helper do this for you if you have one around!

I'll go through the baking instructions a bit further down, but it's super important to be patient when it comes to pouring the syrup. You have 2 options: either pour cold syrup over hot pie, or pour hot syrup over cold pie. I find the former works well but both are fine. Once you've decided which way to do it, you absolutely must let the syrup soak in after each ladle before you add the next ladle - don't drown the poor pie!

I also mention cinnamon in the syrup recipe... I shake just a teeny dash into the syrup as I'm not the biggest fan of cinnamon (read: I hate cinnamon) but a subtle amount is all you need here.

You can serve this gorgeous Orange Pie either straight from the fridge (my favourite) or warmed up. Either way, it's fabulous just by itself or accompanied with delicious vanilla ice cream, Greek yoghurt, cream or even custard.

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Ingredients:

For the pie...

• 300ml Vegetable Oil

• 4 eggs

• 300gr Sugar

• 200g Greek Yoghurt - I use the 10% but 5% and 2% are also ok

• 300ml Fresh Orange Juice

• Zest of 2 Big Oranges

• 4 tsp Baking Powder

• A drop of Vanilla Extract

• 450g Filo Pastry sheets

For the syrup...

• 300ml Water

• 100ml Fresh Orange Juice

• 400gr Sugar

• Zest of 1 Big Orange

• A Sprinkling of Cinnamon

Recipe:

1. Dry out the filo pastry by baking them on a tray in the oven until crispy. I set my oven to 180C so that I'm preheating ready to bake the pie.

2. Lightly oil a baking tray approx. 8 x 12 inch ready for the pie.

3. Using a hand or stand mixer, combine the oil, sugar and eggs and whisk until they have fully combined and are fairly frothy. Usually at least for 5 minutes.

4. Once well whisked, add the yoghurt, orange juice, orange zest, baking powder and vanilla extract and mix until just combined.

5. Crumble up the dried filo pastry and add them to the mixture. Whisk to combine.

6. Pour the orange pie mixture into the prepared baking tray.

7. Bake in the oven for around 1 hour. All ovens are different so it's best to set a timer for 50 minutes to check.

8. In the meantime, prepare the syrup. Combine the liquids, sugar, zest and cinnamon in a sauce pan and place on a medium-high heat. Stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup thickens slightly. Take off the heat and allow to cool completely while the pie is cooking.

9. Insert a skewer to check if it is cooked through. If it is, the skewer will come out clean. The pie should have a nice golden colour to it and spring back when (lightly) pressed.

10. When it's done, take it out of the oven. The syrup should now be cool.

11. One ladle at a time, pour the syrup over the pie and allow each ladle of syrup to be fully absorbed by the pie before you pour more syrup over. The more syrup you put on, the longer it will take to absorb, so be patient!

12. Let the pie reach room temperature and then pop it in the fridge to cool further.

13. Serve with a dollop of ice cream, yoghurt, cream or enjoy nude... the pie, not you...