Leta’s Ladopita -from Lefkada

Have you ever heard of ladopita? This is a traditional dessert that stems from the Greek island of Lefkada. It means olive oil pie. A handful of simple ingredients, and sweetened with a combination of honey and sugar, and simply spiced with a cinnamon stick. This is one of those beautiful old world desserts, that likely stems to perhaps even Byzantine times. I would say that it falls into the category of the halva types of desserts, which vary from region to region.

I have been very blessed with a handful of lifelong friends. A few people that I can count on no matter what. Lucky right? I know I am! Well my wonderful friend, Eleni, posted a photo of the ladopita that her mother made. And I said to her, “Eleni, please tell me that you have this recipe so that you girls can continue to make this!” Greek cooks like her mother never really keep a written recipe, because when you have the life experience that a woman like this has, you simply cook with your heart & soul, and you just know what goes into this and that.

So the following day, I received the best gift! She sent me an audio file of her mother speaking the recipe with the directions. “If you can follow these directions more power to you!”

Leta grew up on one of the tiny islands that surround Lefkada, called Meganisi, which consists of three villages. She and her husband Vissarion, who grew up in the village next door, fell in love and got married stateside. They raised two beautiful daughters, our friends, Eleni and Vicky. Sadly, they lost the patriarch of their family to cancer a few years ago, and I know that they feel his presence missing from their lives every day. But I know that he continues to watch over them closely. He was a good man.

You have to start with the syrup that you will use to sweeten the ladopita. It is a mixture of sugar, honey, water, a cinnamon stick and a couple of cloves. You set that aside. Then you must heat up the oil in a large pot and add in the flour a little at a time. As you stir it in, the flour will continuously absorb the oil. When that has happened you will ladle in the syrup and stir some more. In essence you are creating sort of a paste like consistency. When all the fluids have been absorbed, you then transfer it to a pan that has been sprinkled with sesame seeds as a bottom coating. Pour the batter over this sesame crust. Sprinkle more sesame seeds on top. Smooth it out with your hand using a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Choose to decorate it with blanched almonds or not, and then bake it until has reached a dark caramel color.

Thia Leta uses a 15×12 pan. I had a 13 inch round pan. The next time I make this, because we loved it so much that it will be a part of the repertoire, I might half the recipe and make it in a 9 inch pan for us, but reserve this size for a party.

She also bakes in at 410 F. But I found that this temperature was not the right fit for my oven, so I baked it at 350 F for an hour, till it had darkened in color.

Ingredients:

Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup honey

5 cups water

1 cinnamon stick

3 prongs of clove

Pita

2 cups extra virgin olive oil

5 cups flour

4 tbsps sesame seeds

optional -blanched almonds to decorate

granulated sugar to garnish

Directions:

Bring the water , sugar, cinnamon & cloves to a boil until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the honey and remove from the heat. Set aside.

In a large pot heat up the olive oil. Add in the flour little by little. Cook it like a roux stirring it constantly. You will see the flour completely absorb the olive oil.

Lower flame and add in the syrup little by little.

Keep stirring until the syrup is absorbed by the olive oil and flour mixture.

Lightly spray your pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle a coating of sesame seeds onto the bottom of the pan. Pour the batter on top of that. Smooth it out using a sheet of parchment and your hand. Lift the parchment and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Once again, using the parchment, gently smooth the top so that the sesame seeds become a part of the top layer.

Now you can choose to press in a few toasted blanched almonds as decoration if you like. That’s up to you. We love almonds in our home, so that was a yes!

When it cools, sprinkle granulated sugar on it.

Let me know if you try this!

Kali Oreksi!

Bake it at 350 F for an hour until it has darkened in color. Let it cool and slice. The traditional cut is diamond shapes.