This is my basic cake, the one I soak in syrup and I often complement with jam or marmalade as well as with seasonal fruit to create a more elaborate dessert. It is a lighter version of my mother’s vassilopita, the cake she baked for the New Year celebrations.
Costas, who loves desserts, likes to freeze the cake and he cuts thin slices to eat after lunch.
Instead of grating the fruit to get the fine zest, then juicing it, I pulse whole pieces in the blender — peel and flesh of the lemon, orange or tangerine—to add aroma and tang to the cake.
I bake it either in loaf pans, or in a square, round or rectangular pan. When cooled a bit, I often slice it horizontally and while still warm I douse with the basic lemon syrup I describe in the very similar Yogurt Cake.
I often cut the cake horizontally and add a layer of jam or marmalade in the middle, and/or a seasonal fruit and nut topping: Confit orange slices, briefly cooked strawberries, and/or almonds or pistachios.
Traditionally all Greek cakes –called glyka tapsiou (cakes baked in a pan)– the most well known being walnut or almond cake, are served soaked in syrup. I always splash liberally the cake with my Lemon Liqueur; you can use store-bought Limoncello or a really good citrus-flavored liqueur, like my favorite Grand Marnier!
Makes 2 loaf pans (8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches, or 20 X 10 X 6 cm)
or a 9-inch round or square cake (more…)
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