Karidopita – Greek Walnut Cake – the best walnut cake recipe ever..!

Karidopita – Greek Walnut Cake – the best walnut cake recipe ever..!

Karidopita is the ultimate Greek Walnut Cake, once you’ve tried it you’ll never want another walnut cake recipe again.

Karidopita or Karithdopita is a seriously indulgent Greek walnut cake recipe made with cognac, a hint of spice and breadcrumbs which create an uber moist and sexy eating experience 🙂

As featured on Nick Coffer’s Weekend Kitchen Radio show on BBC 3CR (listen here).

The spices give a subtle warmth to the walnut and is slightly reminiscent of Christmas spices. You could make this particular walnut cake recipe as a good alternative to the traditional Christmas pudding.

In saying all that – Karidopita is too good to have only once a year..

Got a sweet-tooth? Check out my other desserts!

Known locally as Karidopita or Karithdopita, I’ve said below that my Greek walnut cake recipe serves between 6 to 10 people.

I should clarify, I mean it serves 10 disciplined, self controlled people and 5 totally self indulgent people.

Like most Greek desserts this is very much a two-stage cake. You make and bake the cake and while that’s cooking you make a cognac syrup.

The syrup is then poured over the cake and slowly seeps through until fully soaked up by the cake creating a very moist and aromatic finish. I’m actually salivating just writing about this walnut cake recipe!

Karidopita - Greek Walnut Cake

15th July 2015
: 6-10
: 20 min
: 40 min
: 1 hr
: medium

Karidopita is a delicious melt in the mouth cake using breadcrumbs instead of flour to keep it super light and moist. This cake will be, as the ancient Greeks would have said; 'awesome'. Preheat oven to 170c FAN Baking tray about 12x8 inches - you want the mixture to be about 3inches deep.

By:

Ingredients
  • Karidopita - Cake:
  • 3 eggs
  • 150 ml vegetable oil
  • 100 ml milk
  • 250g sugar
  • 4g ground cinnamon
  • 0.5g ground nutmeg (or half a teaspoon)
  • 1 ground clove
  • 150g brown breadcrumbs
  • 7g baking powder
  • 150g course ground walnuts
  • Zest of half lemon
  • Karidopita - Syrup:
  • 200g sugar
  • 200 ml water
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 3 drops vanilla essence
  • 50ml brandy or cognac
Directions
  • Step 1 Karidopita – Method:
  • Step 2 Whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, milk, sugar and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove).
  • Step 3 In a separate bowl combine the breadcrumbs, most of the walnuts (save some for garnish), baking powder and lemon zest together.
  • Step 4 Combine the dry ingredients into the batter and mix.
  • Step 5 Pour into a baking dish and put into the oven for 40 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
  • Step 6 Syrup:
  • Step 7 While the cake is baking make the syrup – combine all the syrup ingredients together in a saucepan and gently bring to the boil and then turn off the heat.
  • Step 8 Remove the cake from the oven and let cool slightly (about 30 mins) then score the top of the cake into diamonds to help the syrup soak in.
  • Step 9 Reheat the syrup and ladle over the top until fully soaked in.
  • Step 10 At this point you will think you’ve made too much syrup, you haven’t. So just man-up and pour it on.
  • Step 11 Leave to rest for a couple of hours, but ideally overnight.
  • Step 12 Garnish with a scattering of lemon zest and chopped nuts on top.
  • Step 13 Goes well with a spoonful of Greek yogurt and a cup of Greek coffee on the side. 

 


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15 thoughts on “Karidopita – Greek Walnut Cake – the best walnut cake recipe ever..!”

  • I tried your recipe because it looked a lot like my mom’s. I had it in my recipe binder but somehow it fell and the culprit tried to put it together before I noticed and this recipe was missing. I tried yours. This was close enough and turned out great. Thank you

  • Hi I wish to make this for a wedding buffet but am making other sweet cakes too, how many days ahead can I make this. I found all your recipes fantastic but would of liked if you can write if it freezes or how many days it can be made ahead. Thanks

    • You’ll get three days minimum (covered in the fridge). I haven’t tried it frozen before, but suspect it should be OK (but you might want to test that first), I imagine you’ll need a little more syrup when it comes out to make it moist again after freezing. Let me know how you get on!

  • I have celiac disease and I used gluten free breadcrumbs and almond milk
    Thanks for the receipt ❤️

  • At my home in Crete I’ve eaten plenty of karidopita from local patisseries or homemade. This is a delicious recipe with a perfect balance of spices and sweetness. As I didn’t have the required size tin I increased the recipe to 4 eggs and all ingredients accordingly, the resulting cake was excellent. Thanks for sharing.

    • Hi, you can substitute semolina for the breadcrumbs but you might need to add a little more liquid; and I’ll have to double check the size of the tin but from memory it was a 9inch one. Hope that helps!

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