Greek Orange-Phyllo Cake

This Greek Orange-Phyllo Cake is a brilliant concoction of crispy phyllo pieces baked in a creamy egg, sugar, orange juice, olive oil, Greek yogurt, and vanilla batter, along with a little bit of semolina. 

After baking, this cake is also soaked in a syrup of orange juice, Grand Marnier, sugar, and orange zest, and flavored with cinnamon. 

In addition, you top this cake with delicious and tender baked orange slices that aren't at all bitter after spending 45 minutes in the oven bathing in orange juice and Grand Marnier and then spending time soaking in the sugar, orange juice, and cinnamon syrup. 

How to Make Greek Orange-Phyllo Cake:

First, you bake orange slices in fresh orange juice and Grand Marnier for 45 minutes in a 325 degree F oven. 

You slice the orange slices about 1/8 inch thick. I used the centers of Mandarin oranges (California Cuties) and made as many as would cover the bottom of a nine inch by 13-inch baking pan. I used the leftovers from the orange halves for making the freshly squeezed orange juice and augmented it with fresh tangerine juice. 

Next, boil orange zest, sugar, water, and cinnamon sticks to make a syrup. Once you remove the orange slices from the oven, pour the boiled syrup over them. Let them cool and then store them in the refrigerator. 

Do not discard the syrup because you will be pouring it over the baked cake. 

After that, bake about eight sheets of phyllo dough by crumpling it up to dry it out and then placing it in the oven. I've never been very good at working with phyllo, so I really enjoyed working with it this way because you can be as messy as you want. 

First, crumple up the sheets and place them in the 325 degree F oven to dry them out. 

Next, bake the phyllo until it has dried out and lightly browned and crispy. 

Once you remove it from the oven, use your hands to crush the phyllo into small pieces. 

Once you have the phyllo pieces, set them aside and begin working on the sugar, egg, and yogurt mixture. 

In a stand mixer, whip together two eggs and sugar until you have a pale mixture. Add more fresh orange juice, olive oil, Greek yogurt, baking powder, a small amount of semolina flour, and vanilla. The mixture will be super creamy and silky. 

Fold in the crushed phyllo and pour the mixture into a 9" by 9" cake pan that has been oiled and dusted with semolina. 

Bake the mixture and, once you remove it from the oven, while it is still hot, pour all of the syrup from soaking the orange slices over the cake. It will seem like a lot of syrup, but it will all be absorbed. Trust me. 

As Zoë François says in her book, Zoë Bakes Cakes, it's not really a cake per se, but it sure acts like one. It's amazing how the crushed phyllo combined with the egg, sugar, olive oil, and yogurt mixture comes together into an amazing "cake."

Ingredient Substitutions:

For the freshly squeezed orange juice, I used a mixture of fresh Mandarin orange juice augmented by Trader Joe's tangerine juice, which is delicious. 

For the orange slices, I used seedless California Mandarin oranges. Feel free to use whatever oranges are in season. 

For the orange zest, I used the zest from a tangelo from our tree, mostly because it was not coated with wax like most store-bought citrus. You can always scrub off the wax from store bought oranges. 

This cake is super moist and has an amazing texture. Unless you know about the dried phyllo, you won't even know that it isn't actually a traditional cake. 

It's soooo good! 

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Zoë Bakes Cakes by Zoē François. We each choose one cake to bake, and on the 20th we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

Our choices for June 2022 were ~

Coconut Cream Cake

• All That's Left Are The Crumbs

The OG Snack Cake

• My Recipe Reviews
• A Little Bit of All Right
• Camille Cooks
• Amandie Bakes

Greek Orange-Phyllo Cake

• A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Karen's Kitchen Stories

Greek Orange-Phyllo Cake

Yield: 12 Servings

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 1 H & 25 MTotal time: 1 H & 55 M

This Greek Orange-Phyllo Cake is a brilliant concoction of crispy phyllo pieces baked in a creamy egg, sugar, orange juice, olive oil, Greek yogurt, and vanilla batter, along with a little bit of semolina.

Ingredients

For the Baked Oranges

• 12 1/8 inch oranged slices, plus the zest of one orange
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier or another orange liqueur
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks

For the Phyllo Cake

• 225 grams (8 ounces) phyllo, thawed (one half of a typical package)
• Semolina flour for dusting plus one tablespoon
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used fat free but either is fine)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place the orange slices in the bottom of a 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan. Cover with a cup of orange juice and the Grand Marnier.
2. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
3. In the meantime, in a 2 quart saucepan, bring combine the water, sugar, orange zest, and cinnamon, and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook over medium heat for five minutes and then turn off the heat.
4. Remove the cinnamon sticks and pour the hot mixture over the just-baked orange slices.
5. Let everything cool completely and refrigerate until you have baked the cake.

To Make the Cake

1. Separate the phyllo sheets, crumple them up, and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the sheet onto the oven rack and bake at 325 degrees F for about 15 minutes, until the phyllo has dried and lightly browned.
2. Crush the phyllo with your hands on the baking sheet into small pieces.
3. Raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and spray a 9" by 9" square cake pan with spray oil and sprinkle with semolina flour.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and the sugar for 5 minutes on high speed until light and airy.
5. In a medium bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, whisk together the orange juice, olive oil, yogurt, baking powder, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of semolina flour.
6. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the yogurt mixture to the egg mixture and mix until just combined.
7. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in all of the phyllo. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the cake is lightly browned.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and pour/strain the syrup from the orange slices over the cake while it is still hot. Let cool.
9. Serve with the orange slices on top along with Greek yogurt or whipped cream.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

279.05

Fat (grams)

12.57

Sat. Fat (grams)

1.52

Carbs (grams)

38.22

Fiber (grams)

0.68

Net carbs

37.52

Sugar (grams)

25.04

Protein (grams)

4.93

Sodium (milligrams)

126.73

Cholesterol (grams)

31.42

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2022/06/greek-orange-phyllo-cake-cakeslicebakers.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

phyllo, orange, cake

Dessert

Greek

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