Greek Ravani — Coconut Cake with Syrup

Saved My Greek Dish recipe; duplicate clipping on pages 228–229 is combined. US cup conversions are approximate: butter 227 g/cup, sugar 200 g/cup, flour 120 g/cup, flaked coconut 85 g/cup, liquid 240 ml/cup.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Beat butter and cake sugar on high until fluffy. Add yolks one at a time, mixing each in fully.

Step 2

In a clean dry bowl, whisk egg whites with a pinch of the cake sugar until very thick and glossy with a trailing peak. In another bowl, mix coconut, flour and baking powder.

Step 3

Using a spatula, lightly fold the meringue and half the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Fold in the remaining flour mixture and orange zest with gentle circular movements.

Step 4

Butter a roughly 30 cm round tin, dust with 2 tbsp flour and shake out excess. Add the batter and bake for 40–45 minutes until golden and cooked through. Cool.

Step 5

Once the cake is cool, boil syrup sugar, water and lemon juice for 5–10 minutes until dissolved and slightly thickened. Slowly ladle over the cake, letting each addition absorb before adding more. Let the syrup soak in, then refrigerate.

Step 6

Serve cold, optionally with vanilla ice cream.