Sticky Toffee Portokalopita (Greek Filo Cake)

If you haven't come across this moist, flakey Greek cake yet then you are really in for a treat.

30 minutes prep

2 hours cook

Serves 6-8

Hugh Woodward

Ingredients

570 gfilo

200 gpitted dates

300 mlboiling water

1 tspbicarbonate of soda

70 gdark brown sugar

70 ggolden caster sugar

1 tbsptreacle

double cream 200ml

125 melted butter

3 eggs

1 more tspbicarb

1 tspbaking soda

Toffee sauce:

115 gbutter

75 ggolden caster sugar

40 gdark brown sugar

1 tsptreacle

140 mldouble cream

This is usually made with orange zest and juice, but we're a British page so we're making a sticky toffee version. If you haven't come across sticky toffee pudding then your life, up to now, has been a waste. It's a highlight of the UK's already rich pudding scene - dates, treacle, two different kinds of sugars and a toffee sauce. Ice cream is optional (read that as obligatory). The two combined is going to change your world.

Method

Set the oven to 130°C and loosely scrunch the individual filo sheets together. Place them on several baking sheets (if you have a small oven you may need to work in batches) and place in the oven for 20 or so minutes, moving them around halfway until they are completely dried through but not browned.

Meanwhile, finely chop the dates and place them in a heatproof bowl, then pour over the water and the bicarb and leave to soften for half or so while the filo dries out.

When the filo is shatteringly crisp, break it into small shards with your hands - don't make them too small as you want the end result to be flaky rather than grainy. Crank up the oven to 160°C.

Place the sugars in a large bowl with the treacle and double cream, then briskly whisk to combine - you want no blobs of sugar knocking about. Add the eggs and carry on whisking to make a smooth batter, then add the butter, bicarb and soda along with the salt and dates along with their soaking liquid, then gently stir through the filo a few handfuls at a time.

Grease and line a 20cm cake tin then scoop in the filo-batter mixture and gently smooth out the top. Bake for around an hour and twenty minutes, or until the cake is firm to touch and doesn't wobble.

Make the sauce - in a small saucepan combine butter, sugar and treacle and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently to combine. Add the cream and a pinch of salt then bring to a boil before turning off the heat.

Remove the cake from the oven, leave to rest in the tin for 10 minutes then remove and stab with a skewer. Pour half the sauce over and slice, reserving some to drizzle over individual portions. Serve warm.