This walnut cake is my riff on karydopita, a Greek bake made with walnuts and doused in spiced syrup. It's gluten-free and dairy-free if that's useful, but it doesn't have to be either. Cinnamon and cloves add warmth and flavour, and honey a natural aromatic sweetness. It's a real winner, easy to make and delicious to eat.
Lightly grease a 20cm (8 inch) cake tin or silicone mould. A springform tin is particularly useful for this cake.
Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into a large mixing bowl. Alternatively place them straight into the bowl and whisk everything together.
150 g gluten-free flour, 1 ½ tsp baking powder, ¾ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground cloves
Stir in the sugar, followed by the ground walnuts.
50 g golden caster sugar, 80 g walnuts
Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Add the honey, oil and milk and stir or whisk from the inside out until the batter is well mixed.
2 eggs, 1 ½ tbsp runny honey, 80 ml plant milk, 80 ml olive oil
Scrape the batter into the cake tin and level the top. Bake in the centre of the oven for thirty minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Syrup
Whilst the cake is baking, place all of the syrup ingredients into a small pan. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring occasionally or until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, for twenty minutes or until the liquid has reduced to a light syrup. You don't want it to get too thick or the cake won't absorb it.
150 ml water, 50 g golden caster sugar, ¼ cinnamon stick, 1 whole clove, 3 tbsp honey
As soon as the cake is out of the oven, use a toothpick or skewer to prick the cake all over. This helps with the absorption of the syrup. Larger skewer holes are better for this, but they don't look particularly pretty.
Spoon the syrup onto the cake bit by bit, trying to get it to go down the holes rather than straight down the sides. Keep going until it's all used up.
Leave the cake to absorb the syrup for ten minutes, then turn it out onto a cake rack to cool.
Decorate with a dusting of icing sugar and/or chopped or crushed walnuts, if liked. Toast them first for extra flavour, or do as I did and praline them.
Notes
If you don't need to make the cake gluten-free and/or dairy-free, you can adjust the ingredients accordingly. Use wholemeal spelt flour instead of gluten-free and whole milk instead of plant milk.You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the main body of the post.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used. Please refer to my nutrition disclaimer for further information.