Greek walnut cake with spiced syrup (Karydopita)

1. For the syrup, bring the sugar to the boil with 350 ml water, a strip of lemon zest and the cinnamon stick, cook for 5 minutes, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice at the end and leave to cool completely.

2. Chop the walnuts roughly; in a bowl mix them with the flour, breadcrumbs, baking powder, ground cinnamon and ground cloves.

3. Whisk the eggs with the sugar for 5 minutes until frothy, then drizzle in the olive oil in a thin stream.

4. Gently fold the walnut and flour mixture into the egg mixture.

5. Spread in an oiled dish of about 25×35 cm and bake at 180 °C for 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out dry.

6. Pour the cold syrup over the hot cake, leave for at least 2 hours (ideally overnight), then cut into diamonds and serve.

Tip: Karydopita is a favourite for Greek Christmas and name days; it's even juicier and tastier the next day. Serve it with Greek yoghurt or vanilla ice cream.