Greek Macedonian Myrmigkato (Μυρμηγκάτο Μακεδονίας)

Myrmigkato belongs to Greek Macedonia's home kitchens, a pale syrup cake speckled with dark chocolate so it looks as if ants have wandered through the crumb. It isn't a pastry-shop showpiece. It is the cake you cut in squares from a metal tapsi, sweet enough for children, sturdy enough to travel to a name-day table or a school fair.

One method decides it. Fold the chocolate in last, after the flour and semolina are already absorbed, and do it with a few broad turns. If you beat it in with the mixer, the chocolate warms, smears, and the cake turns muddy instead of speckled. Keep the batter pale and the dots dark. That is Myrmigkato.

The syrup is simple: sugar, water, lemon peel, and patience. Pour it cool over the warm cake in stages and let the pan rest before you cut. I keep this version as the northern aunties made it in Thessaloniki kitchens: no glaze, no cream, no decoration trying to be clever. The region is the dish's surname, and this one speaks in squares.