I take a classic Greek walnut cake and change it to a gluten free karidopita. I think I may prefer it to the original.
Yes. Yes and YES!!!
After many attempts and many different flours and combinations I have perfected the recipe for a gluten free karidopita. A "karidopita" is a walnut cake that has been drenched in syrup. It is flavoured with orange, cinnamon an ground cloves.
The original recipe for this cake can be found here if you are interested. Apart from walnuts the traditional recipe calls for breadcrumbs a whopping 250g of butter and quite a bit of sugar.
Yes. It's quite decadent. And as a lover of all things cinnamon it definitely has my stamp of approval!
I adore this cake. But...I can't help but tinker with the traditional. That's just me.
In this updated version, I've attempted to eliminate a lot of the sugar by substituting honey. I've also done away with the breadcrumbs and used almond meal.
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This gluten free karidopita is full of nuts and to my surprise it actually held together beautifully.
I'm no stranger to using ground nuts in cakes. I just wasn't sure how the walnuts would work without any other type of traditional flour.
The honey along with the vanilla, cinnamon and orange provide the perfect hint of warmth to enjoy during this cooler weather.
My syrup was made with honey and water and then infused into the cake after it came out of the oven.
I've topped it with a little coconut sugar and sprinkled some orange zest to complement the other ingredients.
Stunning! Even if I do say so myself! My only criticism is that I may have overcooked it a little too long, hence its very dark colour.
I'm hoping you will enjoy this as much as I do.
Cheers!
📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Karidopita-Walnut Cake
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Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS:
- 300 g walnuts, shelled
- 100 g almond meal
- 3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- zest of 1 orange
WET INGREDIENTS:
- 4 eggs
- 125 ml honey
- 60 ml orange juice, freshly squeezed
- 60 ml butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon brandy, or cognac
HONEY SYRUP:
- 60 ml honey
- 60 ml water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
FOR THE TOPPING:
- 2 tablespoon coconut sugar
- zest of 1 orange
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 170 deg C and line and grease an 18cm baking tin with baking paper. Prepare the honey syrup by mixing the honey, water and vanilla in a small pot over medium-high heat. Allow to come to a boil and cook for 2-3 mins until reduced slightly. Set aside to cool completely.
- Place your walnuts in a food processor and grind them into a "semi-fine"" meal. There should be a mixture of fine and coarse bits. Place this in a large bowl and to that add the almond meal, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl or large jug mix the eggs, honey, orange juice, ghee, vanilla and cognac or brandy. Mix well and pour into the walnut mixture. Stir to form a batter and pour into the baking tin.
- Cook the cake for 45-50 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake is clean. Allow the cake to rest for 10 mins in the tin before inverting onto a plate. Pierce the cake with a skewer to make several holes on the top and pour over the cooled honey syrup.
- Allow to cool completely before sprinkling with coconut sugar and orange zest.
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Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Souvlaki For the Soul
Rosa says
An interesting recipe. This comforting cake must taste wonderful.
Cheers,
Rosa
Helen (grabyourfork) says
Should not be looking at this at 3am. I need cake! NOW!
Elena says
Hi Peter, this recipe looks amazing, can the butter be replaced with another fat to make this cake dairy-free? Will it work with olive oil? Efharisto poli!
Peter G says
Hi Elena. I have never tested this myself but I see no issue with trying it. I would use a light-flavoured olive oil.
Hannah says
Wow this looks awesome. You're pictures are fabulous!
Maureen Shaw says
So dark and moist and almost mysterious. Love it!
The merrymaker sisters says
Wow! This looks awesome! AND it's paleo friendly (minus the brandy!)! We might have to re-make this one! Our heritage is greek too but we're yet to try some authentic greek recipes like this one! Thanks so much Peter! 🙂 e + c
Jennifer says
Hi! This looks delicious but I have a quick question... for the 300g walnuts shelled is this measured out before they are ground? So in other words do you take 300g of whole walnuts and grind them or do you have ready to add 300g of ground walnuts?
Peter G says
Hi Jennifer. It's 300 grams of whole walnuts and then you grind them. Hope that helps.