Greek Walnut Cake (Karidopita)

Old ladies from high Athens society used to sit in the tea and coffee houses eating this rich walnut cake as an accompaniment to their tea and gossip. It is delicious accompanied by whipped cream! The thing to be careful with is for it to be neither too dry nor too syrupy.

Ingredients

100g walnuts very roughly chopped
400g grated walnuts
400g all purpose flour
400g sugar
125g butter
8 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 tablespoons cognac
1 tablespoon crumbled rusks

For the Syrup

320g sugar
400ml water

Preparation

Beat the butter, sugar, cinnamon the yolks of the eggs in a mixer for 10 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

Clean the mixer bowl and beat the whites of the eggs in the mixer until it becomes a meringue.

Add half of the meringue to the yolk mixture.

Mix the baking powder with the 400g grated walnuts, gradually adding the flour.

Add this mixture to the egg yolk mixture along with the remaining meringue, stirring gently.

Transfer the whole mixture to a 30cm oven dish, 6cm deep, which has been well buttered, and the crumbled rusks sprinkled over the bottom.

Spread the 100g roughly chopped walnuts on top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the sugar and water in a pan and boil for 15 minutes.

Remove the cake and cut into pieces with a bread knife and spread the syrup over the top, followed by the cognac.

 

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Authentic Greek Recipes