Portokalopita

The word that names this Greek sweet is made up of Portokal, which means orange, and Pita, which means cake or also "flat". If the word Portokal sounds like Portugal, you are correct. It was Portugal that brought the sweet orange from China to Europe and in some countries, such as Greece, the country that acted as an intermediary also gave the fruit its name.

Portokalopita is a cake made with filo pastry, yogurt, oranges (of course) and syrup.

INGREDIENTS

• 400 grams (14 oz) of Greek yogurt
• 1 package of filo pastry (we need at least 8 layers or 250 grams / 9 oz)
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of sugar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz)  of olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 large orange + 1 orange to decorate (optional)
• 1 sachet (20 grams / 1 tbps) of baking powder

for the syrup

• 1 cup (200 ml) of water
• Half a cup (100 ml) of sugar
• 1 orange

First we are going to make the syrup.

Grate the skin of the orange and then squeeze it. Reserve the zest and juice.

Pour the water and sugar into a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick. At that time we add the juice and the grated skin. We reserve it.

Beat the eggs with the sugar. To the resulting cream we add the oil and the yogurt. Mix well until a homogeneous mass is obtained.

We also get the zest of an orange and its juice. We add it to the yogurt mixture and also add the baking powder.

Cut the package of filo pastry and cut it into strips 1 cm wide, more or less. It is as if we were making papardelle (Italian wide pasta) to give an example.

As soon as we cut it, we take it to a bowl (quickly because it dries quickly) and pour the mixture of yogurt with orange and eggs. Mix well so that the filo pastry strips are well impregnated.

Let's pour all this into a source that can go in the oven, not very high, and introduce it at 180 degrees (356 F)  for 45 minutes.

If you want to decorate it with orange slices, cut a very thin one without removing the skin. Halfway through cooking they are placed on the cake.

Once baked, remove and while hot pour the syrup on top. Do not unmold it.

Let cool to room temperature and then take it to the refrigerator, so that the syrup soaks well.

It is extracted the next day, unmolded or cut from the source, taking it cold or from the weather.

The orange flavor that it has is incredible, being a perfect dessert to end a meal with category.