Honey-Walnut Cake Shendetli
A classic Balkan cake with a crispy walnut base, soaked in honey syrup. Simple to prepare yet impressive in flavour — perfect for a festive table.
Ingredients
- 300 g Sugar
- 3 pcs Eggs
- 180 g Melted butter
- 700 g Wheat flour
- 100 g Walnuts
- 4 tbsp Honey
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 220 g Sugar
- 450 ml Water
Instructions
- In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs with sugar and cooled melted butter until smooth and well combined. Add honey and baking powder, mix thoroughly.
- Add half of the flour and walnuts (whole or ground — to your preference), mix carefully. Then add the remaining flour and knead by hand until a dense, uniform dough forms.
- Brush a large round baking tin approximately 30 cm in diameter and 7–8 cm in height with olive oil. Transfer the dough to the tin and carefully level it with your hands, ensuring even thickness across the entire surface.
- Place the tin on the lower rack of a cold oven, preheat to 180 °C and bake for 35 minutes until dark brown in colour and firm to the touch.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool while you prepare the syrup.
- In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water, bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let the syrup cool slightly.
- Cut the cooled cake into squares or diamonds. Pour the hot syrup generously over it so that it covers the surface by 1 cm and soaks into the cake. Allow the cake to fully absorb the syrup, cooling for at least 1 hour before serving.