Karydopita (Greek Walnut Cake)

overhead shot of karydopita in a baking pan.

4.54 from 26 votes

Karydopita (Greek Walnut Cake)

This Karydopita (Greek Walnut Cake) is a rich, spiced Greek syrup cake made with walnuts, warm cinnamon and cloves, and soaked in a lemony cognac syrup. It’s a flourless walnut cake with deep flavor, crazy moisture, and serious dessert energy, perfect for holidays or coffee with friends.

Prep Time30

Cook Time40

Total Time1 10

Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: Greek

Keyword: greek walnut cake, karydopita, walnut cake

Servings:

Calories: 335kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Equipment

Ingredients

Cake

¾ cup sugar
½ cup butter unsalted, at room temperature
7 large eggs separated, at room temperature
¼ cup cognac
3 cups walnuts roughly chopped (12 to 13oz)
1½ cup breadcrumbs plain or ground rusk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon ground
½ teaspoon nutmeg ground
½ teaspoon cloves ground
½ teaspoon salt

Syrup

2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 stick cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
¼ cup cognac
8 whole cloves

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F and generously grease 9x13" baking pan. Set aside.
Add the sugar and butter to a large bowl and mix on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, while continuing to mix. Add the cognac and mix until blended in.
In another large bowl, combine the walnuts, breadcrumbs, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth.
Add the egg whites to another bowl and mix until stiff peaks form. Fold in the egg whites into the cake batter, a quarter at a time, with circular movements until finished.
Pour the cake batter into the greased pan and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the cake is nicely browned. Test with a toothpick to make sure it's baked through.
While the cake is baking, make the syrup. Add all the syrup ingredients together to a small saucepan and boil until the sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally, over medium heat. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer the syrup for 5 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves. Let the syrup cool while the cake is baking.
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the cooled syrup over the entire cake. You could also pour hot syrup on a cool cake. Allow the cake to absorb all the syrup.
Cut the cake into diamond shaped pieces and serve with walnut half on top and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Notes

Use fresh walnuts. If they taste bitter or smell weird, don’t ruin your cake with them. You’ll regret it.
Breadcrumbs = texture. Don’t sub flour. The crumbs give this cake its signature tender bite and soak up syrup beautifully.
Room temp eggs matter. You need stiff peaks for the meringue, and cold eggs won’t cut it.
Let it rest after the syrup soak. Give it at least 30 minutes to fully absorb. It gets even better overnight.

Nutrition