Greek Easter: Recipes for thiples and lemon-yoghurt cake

Kathy Tsaples is the owner of the award-winning Sweet Greek at Prahran Market in Melbourne. At Sweet Greek everything is made fresh every day and reflects the Greek heritage of this modern, Australian-born woman.

In Kathy's world, food is the essence of life and a vital ingredient of all the precious events we share.

She has shared some recipes from her first book, Sweet Greek: Simple Food, Sumptuous Feasts for Orthodox Easter, this year celebrated on Sunday May 1st. Her second cookbook, Zoi, is due to be published in October 2016.

​Thiples (pronounced zipless with a lisp)

Thiples are for celebrating life and special occasions - we serve them on big platters drizzled with honey and sprinkled with walnuts, at weddings, christenings, engagements and Christmas. At Easter we serve them to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. They're a tradition and a labour of love made by all the women of the family gathered together in the kitchen.

For pastry

16 eggs (for the best results, they must be fresh and organic)

2kg special white flour (approx)

1 litre sunflower oil

juice of 1⁄2 lemon

1⁄2 cup of ouzo

25g packet of vanilla sugar

2 1⁄2 tbsp sugar

3 cups of walnuts

Syrup

2 cups of honey

1⁄2 cup of lemon juice

1 cup of water

1 stick of cinnamon

2 cups of sugar

To serve

1 cup of sesame seeds, toasted (to serve)

1 tsp of cinnamon

Method

1. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla sugar,lemon juice and ouzo.

2. Add the flour to form a stiff dough. It should not stick to your hands.

3. Knead it for about 5 minutes and allow it to rest for about 30–50 minutes.

5. Take a piece of dough the size of your fist and, using a pasta machine, roll the dough out until it is thin. Cut your pastry into squares approximately 6 by 6 inches in size.

6. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan. Drop the pastry squares into the hot oil and, using a fork, roll them up to form a cylinder. Admittedly, this step does require a bit of practice. Don't worry if they are not perfect to begin with. Drain the Thiples after frying.

7. Create the syrup by bringing all the syrup ingredients to a boil and simmer for about 5–10 minutes.

8. Dip each of the Thiples into the warm (not hot) syrup.

Serve in a beautiful platter and sprinkle with the finely chopped walnuts, sesame seeds and a little cinnamon.

​Yiaourtopita (yoghurt cake with lemon)

You don't need an excuse or reason to make Yiaourtopita, which is a delicious cake for any occasion. Make it for your family and friends, and serve it with a cup of coffee or tea. You will need an electric mixer.

2 tsp lemon rind

3 cups of self-raising flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 cup of butter, softened at room temperature

1 1⁄2 cups of yoghurt (preferably full-cream)

6 eggs

icing sugar (for dusting)

1 1⁄2 cups of sugar

a pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Grease and flour a cake tin (approx. 26cm in diameter). Separate the eggs by placing the whites in a clear stainless-steel

bowl. Whisk these with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter combined with the sugar using the paddle-wheel attachment of the electric mixer.

4. Add the egg yolks one at a time, followed by the lemon rind then the yoghurt.

5. Using a big spoon and with the mixer on the slowest speed setting, gradually add the flour and baking powder.

6. Fold in the egg whites.

7. Bake the cake for 40–45 minutes. Confirm that the cake is fully cooked by inserting a knife in the middle — you'll know it's ready when the knife comes out clean.

8. Once out of the oven and while still hot, dust the cake with icing sugar.

This is an extract from: Sweet Greek: Simple Food, Sumptuous Feasts by Kathy Tsaples, Melbourne Books, 2013, $39.95.

Kathy's second book Zoi (Melbourne Books) focuses on her contemporary interpretation of Greek cuisine. "Zoi is about life, a cherished past and future promise. It's a book to use, full of recipes that will become a part of your life story too."