Desserts

Walnut Cake (Karidopita)

40 min Cook
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Walnut cake is a delicious Greek dessert that can be made with Chocolate Ganache or without.  Karidopita is a Greek compound word made from Karidia (walnuts) and Pita (Greek pie), thus Karidopita.  It is a dessert that is in the family of “Syropiasta” which basically means, they are bathed in syrup.  There are other pies or cakes similar to this made from Yogurt or almonds, and these too are bathed in syrup.  

walnut cake with chocolate ganache

In the low-carb world, it is difficult to replicate real syrup so on a trial and error basis, you must experiment until you find the right combination.  For example, if you use only Erythritol, then the low-carb sweetener will crystalize once the cake cools.  It’s not bad and certainly adds a unique texture, but this is not how Karidopita feels when you eat it.  

Try a Monk Fruit sweetener and even though that is mixed with Erythritol, the crystallization is not as bad.  You can also use Stevia that is mixed with Erythritol; you can use Allulose to really minimize the crystallization.  Finally, you may need to add 1/8 of a teaspoon of Xanthum gum to your Syrup, in order to achieve a thick syrup along with an optional tablespoon of  Honey flavored Allulose syrup.  

Greek Keto syrup

Use cinnamon sticks and orange or lemon peel.

In this syrup recipe, I also combined regular monk fruit and golden monk fruit to give it that dark golden color along with a cinnamon stick and orange peel.  You can use lemon zest, although the original recipe calls for orange zest.  Of course, you can omit this entirely and make the syrup without any kind of zest.  This is truly a low-carb cake that you will enjoy. 

This cake can be made with or without the chocolate ganache.  The best ratio to make ganache is 1:1, so if you will use 1/2 cup of chocolate, then use 1/2 cup of heavy cream.  In this recipe today, I used 3/4 cup Lily’s dark chocolate baking chips and 3/4 cups of organic heavy cream.  

walnut cake chocolate ganache

You must wait for your cake to cool before adding the Ganache. That is why I always make the cake the night before.

After you add the chocolate ganache, wait until it sets.  I usually wait for 1 hour and then dig right in.  There is nothing better in life than having a piece of cake with a nice cup of Greek coffee; or whatever coffee you prefer. 

walnut cake with ganache

Enjoy this piece with a cup of your favorite coffee.

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Walnut Cake (Karidopita)

Walnut Cake (Karidopita)

greekk6bg
Greeks usually eat fruit after lunch and not desserts or sweets. Instead, we save our desserts for afternoon Greek coffee. Try this walnut cake with Ganache with your next cup of Greek coffee, espresso, or filtered coffee.
prep time
20 min
cooking time
40 min
servings
8-10
total time
1 hour and overnight

Equipment

  • 2 Mixing Bowl

  • Stand Mixer (or Hand Mixer)

  • Food processor

  • 15-inch springform cake pan

  • Parchment paper

Ingredients

  • **For Cake**

  • 1 ½ cups walnut flour

  • 2 Tbsp. coconut flour

  • 6 egg whites

  • 3 egg yolks

  • 4 Tbsp butter

  • ¼ cup monk fruit sweetener

  • 3 Tsp. baking powder

  • 1 Tsp. cinnamon

  • ¼ Tsp. ground nutmeg

  • ¼ Tsp. ground cloves

  • 1 Tsp. vanilla extract (essence)

  • 1 Tsp. Cognac (optional)

  • **For Syrup**

  • ¾ cup water

  • ½ cup golden monk fruit sweetener

  • ¼ cup regular monk fruit sweetener

  • 1 cinnamon stick

  • 2 inches of orange peel

  • 1 Tbsp honey flavored Allulose syrup (optional)

  • 1/8 tsp of Xanthum gum

  • **For Chocolate Ganache**

  • ¾ cup sugar-free dark chocolate (or chocolate chips)

  • ¾ cup heavy cream

Instructions

1
Place parchment paper in the bottom of your cake pan. Preheat your oven to 350.
2
Grind your 2 cups of walnuts in the food processor for 10-15 seconds. Add your coconut flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg to the food processor and pulse for another 5 seconds. Set aside.
3
In a large bowl beat your egg whites until stiff peaks. Set aside.
4
In a bowl, using a hand mixer, whip your butter and monk fruit until creamy. Add your 3 egg yolks, vanilla, and Cognac (If you don’t use Cognac, you can increase the vanilla to 2 Tsp.). Beat for 1 minute. Add your walnut mixture and beat for another 1 minute until your batter is combined. Set aside.
5
To your egg whites, slowly fold in your batter until combined. Pour into your cake pan and bake for 30 minutes.
6
While your cake is baking make the syrup. To a saucepan add your water, monk fruit, lemon peel, Honey Allulose sweetener, and cinnamon stick. Boil for 15 minutes on medium heat until some of the water has evaporated. Add 1/8 teaspoon of Xanthum gum. Please note that I have made this both with and without the Allulose and the recipe still works fine. At the end of the day, it’s the Xanthum gum that really makes the syrup thicker.
7
When the cake comes out of the oven, using a toothpick, make about 10 holes around the entire cake. Do this so the syrup can penetrate and soak throughout the entire cake. It will take at least 1 hour for the cake to thoroughly absorb all the syrup. Now let it cool overnight.
8
The next morning you will make your chocolate ganache. Start by placing your chips in a mixing bowl. Meanwhile, heat your heavy cream in the microwave for 2 minutes. Now add your cream to the chocolate chips and use a rubber spatula mix until combined.
9
Now pour the Ganache over your entire cake. Garnish the top layer with whole walnuts or coarsely ground walnuts (optional) and serve.
10
Enjoy! Bon Appetit! Kali Orexi!

Notes

Remember, you can make this recipe with or without the chocolate Ganache. It is totally up to you, however, the chocolate Ganache really elevates this cake and takes it to another level.
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