Here in Greece, we celebrate St Fanourios on August 27th. It is one of the most beloved saints and known for his power to find lost things or to reveal hidden things. I try to celebrate him every year and make a pie in his name. Then I take the pie to a priest, and he reads some hymns celebrating the living in our family. Lastly, I buy various people around me with the pie – we must treat people with this pie and not consume it at home on our own.
This year, as I have dietary restrictions, I substituted sugar with honey. I must say it was even more tasty although the top of the pie became a bit brown because of the honey. I forgot to say that this is a vegan pie – no dairy ingredients involved.
Here it is:
Ingredients: 500gr self-rising flour, 250gr honey, 150ml olive oil, 500ml orange juice, 100gr raisins (black and blonde), 100 gr almonds and cashews cut in big pieces with a knife, 50ml a nice liquor, two orange zest, 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground carnation, 1 tsp cooking soda. For those of you not in fasting, icing sugar on top of the pie
In a mixer, mix the olive oil and honey. Gradually add the zest, the liquor, the orange juice in which we dissolve the cooking soda (be careful with that – do it over the bowl as the mixture fluffs up and splatters everywhere!), the cinnamon and the carnation. Mix well.
Put a tbsp of flour in the raisins and another in the almonds and cashews and mix. We do this so as the nuts don’t sink in the bottom of the mixture once united with the dough.
Add the rest of the flour in the bowl with the ingredients and keep tossing while lowering the power of the mixer. In the end turn off the mixer, add your raisins, cashews and almonds and mix with a spoon softly.
In a 26cm tray, apply grease proof paper. Pour the mixture and put in pre heated oven in 180C for 45-50min. Check with a knife if it is cooked before taking out of the oven. Once it is in room temperature, sprinkle – optionally – icing sugar on top.
Enjoy!