Like Sunshine for your mouth!

Ingredients:

Syrup

• 2 1/2 c sugar
• 2 1/2 c water
• Juice of 3 oranges (zest before juicing)

Cake

• Zest of 3 oranges
• 2 oranges
• One package or ~454g phyllo dough
• 1 c sugar
• 1 c olive oil or other neutral oil (not EVOO)
• 1 c greek yogurt
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• optional: orange slices for decoration

Directions:

1. Defrost your phyllo on the counter until you can unroll it. Then separate into a few sheets and scatter them about to dry. (Obviously clean your counters first) Once they’re dry they will crumble very easily. Use your hands to crumble all of it into a large bowl.
2. Put your 2 oranges in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for an hour. When they’re cool enough to handle, cut in half and remove any seeds and most of the juice. Place the oranges in a food processor or blender.
3. To your blender, add the zest, oil, and sugar. Blend until smooth. Add egg, yogurt, vanilla, baking powder, and baking soda. Blend until fully combined.
4. Preheat your oven to 320F and lightly grease a 9×13 pan or two 9 inch pans
5. Now, make the syrup. Put the equal parts sugar and water in a pan, stir, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. When all sugar is dissolved, add the orange juice and set aside to cool completely.
6. In a large bowl, combine your crumbled phyllo and your batter. I did this in 4 stages. Just add little by little of each so that its all fully coated. Once done, add your batter to your prepared baking pan(s). At this time you might wish to add your orange slices to the top for decoration. I say decoration because its really pretty, but not super pleasant to eat.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes if using a single 9×13 pan. If using two 9 inch pans, check after 30-35 minutes. If you use a different sized pan, it may take longer. If you have a digital thermometer (which, you should. Seriously, makes life so much easier) you want the internal temperature to reach 200-205F
8. Once the cake is done, immediately ladle on your syrup. ONLY IF YOUR SYRUP IS COOL! Which, it should be, unless you forgot that step and tried to do it last minute. Warm cake + Cool syrup = the only way to go. If you try to add warm syrup to warm cake, it will not absorb well. You’ve been warned.

Let the cake soak up and rest for at least 30 minutes before you try to dig in. Trust me, it’s worth it.

10/10 would make again