Chef Dimitra
Greek Macedonian Myrmigkato (Μυρμηγκάτο Μακεδονίας)
Myrmigkato from Greek Macedonia is the home cook's ant cake: a lemon-syrup sponge scattered with dark chocolate, plain on purpose and generous enough for coffee or a crowded table.
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Thessaloniki Indokaridopita (Ινδοκαρυδόπιτα)
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Thessaloniki's indokaridopita is a coconut and semolina tray cake, syruped like the city's old pan sweets, with pale-toasted coconut giving the crumb its clean, fragrant depth.
Desserts
Greek
Celebration
Potluck
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
50 min cook•3 hr 15 min total
Yield12 servings
Thessaloniki indokaridopita is a coconut syrup cake from the city's home and pastry-shop table, a soft semolina crumb soaked until every square is fragrant but still clean enough to lift with your fingers. It isn't walnut karidopita with coconut pushed into it. It has its own name because the coconut is the point, indokarydo, the Indian nut as Greek groceries still call it.
The move that decides it is the coconut. Toast it only until pale blond before it meets the batter, because raw coconut goes dull under syrup and dark coconut turns bitter. Pale is enough. Then the semolina and yogurt do their quiet work, giving you a crumb that drinks the syrup instead of collapsing.
In my Thessaloniki notebook this sits among the name-day cakes, the kind that leaves the house in a covered tapsi and comes back empty. Bake it in the morning, syrup it while the cake is hot and the syrup cool, and leave it alone until afternoon. A recipe written down is a recipe saved, but this one is still very much alive.
Indokaridopita belongs to the twentieth-century urban tray sweets of northern Greece, when dried coconut became easy to buy in grocers and zacharoplasteia. The Greek word indokarydo means Indian nut, the older grocery name for coconut, and the cake shows how Thessaloniki folded an imported ingredient into a very Greek method: semolina batter baked in a pan and soaked with syrup.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
granulated sugar, for the syrup
Quantity
420g
water
Quantity
420ml
unwaxed lemon
Quantity
1
wide strip of peel removed, zest finely grated, and 15ml juice squeezed
unsweetened desiccated coconut (indokarydo)
Quantity
120g
unsalted butter
Quantity
15g
softened, for the pan
fine semolina (simigdali psilo)
Quantity
150g
all-purpose flour
Quantity
110g
baking powder
Quantity
12g
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/4 tsp
large eggs
Quantity
5
at room temperature
granulated sugar, for the batter
Quantity
180g
mild Greek olive oil or sunflower oil
Quantity
120ml
full-fat plain Greek yogurt
Quantity
200g
whole milk
Quantity
120ml
vanilla extract
Quantity
2 tsp
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| granulated sugar, for the syrup | 420g |
| water | 420ml |
| unwaxed lemonwide strip of peel removed, zest finely grated, and 15ml juice squeezed | 1 |
| unsweetened desiccated coconut (indokarydo) | 120g |
| unsalted buttersoftened, for the pan | 15g |
| fine semolina (simigdali psilo) | 150g |
| all-purpose flour | 110g |
| baking powder | 12g |
| fine sea salt | 1/4 tsp |
| large eggsat room temperature | 5 |
| granulated sugar, for the batter | 180g |
| mild Greek olive oil or sunflower oil | 120ml |
| full-fat plain Greek yogurt | 200g |
| whole milk | 120ml |
| vanilla extract | 2 tsp |
Equipment Needed
- •23x33cm metal baking pan or 30cm round tapsi
- •small heavy saucepan
- •dry skillet for toasting the coconut
- •electric hand mixer or stand mixer
Instructions
- 1
Make the syrup
Put the syrup sugar, water, lemon peel, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring only until the sugar dissolves, then lower the heat and simmer 7 minutes. Take off the heat, discard the peel, and leave the syrup until cool.
Make the syrup first. The cake needs cool syrup waiting when it leaves the oven. - 2
Toast the coconut
Put the coconut in a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Stir constantly for 3 to 5 minutes, until it turns pale blond in patches and smells clean and nutty. Tip it onto a plate at once and reserve 15g for the top. This is the small step that makes the cake itself: raw coconut goes flat under syrup, but a pale toast gives it flavor without bitterness.
Use unsweetened fine desiccated coconut. Sweetened flakes stay chewy and don't become part of the crumb. - 3
Heat and butter
Heat the oven to 175C, or 165C fan. Butter a 23x33cm metal baking pan, or a 30cm round tapsi, right into the corners. This is a syrup cake, so the sides need a little help releasing cleanly.
- 4
Combine the dry
Whisk the semolina, flour, baking powder, salt, and the larger portion of toasted coconut in a bowl. Break up any little clumps of coconut with your fingers.
- 5
Beat the eggs
Beat the eggs and batter sugar for 4 to 5 minutes, until pale, thick, and falling from the whisk in a ribbon. Beat in the oil, yogurt, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest. The mixture should look loose and glossy.
- 6
Fold the batter
Fold the dry mixture into the egg mixture with a spatula until no dry flour remains. Leave the batter to stand for 10 minutes, just enough for the semolina to drink a little. It should still pour easily.
- 7
Bake until gold
Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and level it gently. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is deep gold, the edges pull slightly from the pan, and a skewer comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter.
- 8
Syrup the cake
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, cut it into 12 large squares or diamonds. Ladle the cool syrup slowly over the hot cake, moving across the corners, edges, and center. It will look like too much at first. Wait between ladles and let the cake take it in.
Do not pour all the syrup into one spot. A slow hand gives you an even soak and clean slices later. - 9
Rest and serve
Scatter the reserved toasted coconut over the top. Leave the cake at room temperature for at least 2 hours, 4 if you have it. Serve in its pan or lift the pieces onto a plain plate with Greek coffee. Good olive oil, and patience, but for sweets we add coffee.
Chef Tips
- •Buy unsweetened coconut that smells fresh and nutty before you toast it. If it smells like a closed cupboard, leave it there. Λίγα και καλά, a few things, and good ones.
- •Fine semolina gives the tender crumb here. Coarse semolina makes a more rustic bite, which belongs to other syrup cakes but not this Thessaloniki pan.
- •This cake is better after it rests. Two hours is the minimum, four is kinder, and the next day is still good if you keep it covered at room temperature.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the syrup up to 2 days ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Bring it back to cool room temperature before using.
- •Toast the coconut up to 1 day ahead and store it airtight once fully cool.
- •The finished cake needs at least 2 hours to absorb the syrup before serving. Plan for that rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 160g)
Calories
485 calories
Total Fat
20 g
Saturated Fat
9 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
85 mg
Sodium
200 mg
Total Carbohydrates
71 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
52 g
Protein
8 g
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