TRADITIONAL MACEDONIAN SYRUP CAKE

This is one of Macedonia’s most beloved traditional desserts – a syrup cake made with semolina, walnuts, raisins and a fragrant cinnamon touch. Moist, rich, and easy to prepare.

This cake is a memory shared across generations, a recipe that lives in every village and city. You’ll find it at Sunday lunches, name days, weddings... sweetened with syrup and made with ingredients that once came straight from your grandma’s pantry.

🥄 Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 5 small cups flour (150 ml per cup)

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 3 small cups semolina

• 100 g chopped raisins

• 100 g chopped walnuts

• 5 small cups sparkling water

• 3 small cups sunflower oil

For the Syrup:

• 250 g sugar

• 1 pack vanilla sugar (8 g)

• 250 ml water

Optional Topping:

• 50 g crushed walnuts

🧑‍🍳 Preparation

1. Mix dry ingredients:
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Add semolina, raisins and walnuts. Stir well.

2. Add wet ingredients:
Pour in sparkling water and oil. Mix everything using a hand whisk or mixer until well combined.

3. Bake:
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 25×35 cm baking tray with parchment paper. Pour in the batter and optionally sprinkle walnuts on top. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Let the cake cool in the tray.

4. Prepare the syrup:
In a small pot, boil sugar, vanilla sugar and water for 3–4 minutes. Pour the hot syrup over the cooled cake and let it absorb fully at room temperature.

💡 Tips

• This cake gets better the next day.

• You can skip the glaze – the syrup alone makes it rich and flavorful.

• Serve it with Turkish coffee for the full Macedonian experience.