AI-generated image
Tishpishti
Walnut cake in honey-orange syrup
Tishpishti (טישפישטי): Turkish-Jewish walnut cake in honey-orange syrup for Passover
Tishpishti is a dense, syrup-drenched walnut cake that Jews from Izmir and Istanbul bake for Passover, made with matzo meal instead of flour; in Holon and Bat Yam it also appears all year with semolina. It is cut into diamonds before baking and then soaked with hot honey and orange syrup, so every piece is moist, nutty and fragrant, best with strong black coffee. Because it uses oil, not butter, it can follow a meat meal. The mistake is pouring cold syrup over a cold cake, or hot over hot; one must be hot and the other cooled, or the cake turns soggy or stays dry. Chef's tip: let it rest overnight before serving, when the syrup has soaked right through and the walnut flavour has deepened.
- Total time
- 65 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 16
Ingredients
For the cake
- 9 oz walnutsfinely ground
- 3 ½ oz matzo meal
- 4 eggs
- 4 oz sugar
- ¼ cup sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch ground cloves
For the syrup
- 5 ½ oz honey
- 3 ½ oz sugar
- ¾ cup orange juice
- ½ cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (4)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Make the syrup first: simmer 5 ½ oz honey, 3 ½ oz sugar, ¾ cup orange juice, ½ cup water and 1 tbsp lemon juice for 8 minutes until slightly thickened. Leave to cool completely.
8 minStep 2: Heat the oven to 350°F and oil a 20 x 30 cm tin.
Step 3: Whisk 4 eggs and 4 oz sugar for 4 minutes until pale and thick, then whisk in ¼ cup sunflower oil and 1 tbsp orange zest.
4 minStep 4: Fold in 9 oz walnuts, 3 ½ oz matzo meal, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1 pinch ground cloves. Spread in the tin and score into diamonds with a sharp knife.
Step 5: Bake for 30–35 minutes, until browned and firm and a skewer comes out clean.
35 minStep 6: Cut along the scored lines while hot and slowly spoon the cool syrup over the hot cake until it is all absorbed.
Step 7: Leave for at least 3 hours, or overnight, before serving.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 260 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 25 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tishpishti take?
- About 65 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 16 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of walnuts?
- Pecans or chocolate chips, same amount.
- What can I use instead of eggs?
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water per egg, left for 5 minutes (baking only; vegan).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Kartoshka cakeCocoa and cake crumb truffles
Soviet cafés and school canteens sold these knobbly brown 'potatoes' for a few kopecks, and they began as a thrifty way to use up sponge and biscuit trimmings at the bakery. Crumbs are bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, flavoured with cocoa and vanilla, shaped into little potatoes, rolled in cocoa and finished with two dabs of pale butter cream for the sprouts. They are fudgy and dense like a brownie truffle, need no oven, and children love making them. Traditional bakers added a spoonful of rum, an optional extra for adult batches only; this version is alcohol-free with vanilla. The usual slip is coarse crumbs, which make the potatoes crack, so blitz them as fine as sand. Chef's tip: chill the shaped potatoes for at least 20 minutes so they hold their shape and slice cleanly.
Russian
Undu walaluFried urad dal rings in treacle
Walalu means bangles, and these dark, sticky rings of fried urad dal soaked in kithul treacle are a sweet that Sinhala families bring out for Avurudu and for special almsgivings, often made in large batches by an aunt known for her steady hand. A thick, fluffy paste of ground black gram is piped into loops and fried until crisp, then plunged straight into warm treacle, so the rings stay crunchy on the outside while drinking up the syrup. They taste a little like a darker, smokier jalebi, with a toffee finish from the palm treacle. Watery batter is what ruins them; it spreads into flat blobs, so grind the soaked dal with as little water as possible and beat it until light. This recipe uses no asafoetida, so it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: pipe the rings onto small squares of baking paper and lower them into the oil paper and all; the paper peels away in seconds.
Sri Lankan
Apple & pear puree
A smooth, naturally sweet puree of gently stewed apple and pear, one of the first foods for babies of 4–8 months. The fruit cooks in a little unsweetened apple juice, so nothing else is needed. Serve it lukewarm; any leftover keeps covered in the fridge for a day, or freezes well in small pots.