Fluffy, moist, cooling and extra syrupy! A mouthwatering traditional Greek dessert with the flavours and aromas of flaked coconut and oranges (revani or ravani cake).
One can find many variations of this traditional Greek ravani recipe, with the most well known being the coconut-based ravani recipe and the semolina based ravani recipe from the region of Veroia. Both are delicious, but my absolute favorite is this extra syrupy Greek coconut cake, a very unique traditional Greek dessert, which stands up with its delicate cooling flavour, texture and amazing smell!
Extra syrupy Greek coconut cake (Ravani cake) – The secret is in the syrup!
Revani or ravani cake (Greek coconut cake) is a traditional Greek dessert which falls under the category of ‘Siropiasta’, which means syrupy Greek desserts.
Syrupy Greek desserts are very popular among Greek cuisine and with good reason! From extra syrupy cakes like portokalopita, karidopita or ravani to traditional Greek Christmas desserts, like melomakarona or diples and of course the famous traditional Greek baklava recipe. One thing all these Greek desserts have in common is of course the moist of scented syrup, which makes each one just irresistible!
Prepare the syrup for the Greek coconut cake (ravani) recipe: To achieve the perfect texture for the syrup of the ravani cake, you should never blend or stir the syrup, while it is boiling. Just bring to the boil, let the sugar dissolve in the hot water and boil for 5-10 minutes, until the syrup thickens a little bit. When adding syrup to the ravani cake, always make sure that the cake is cold and the syrup is really hot. Ladle really slowly the hot syrup over the cold ravani, enabling each ladle to be absorbed, so that the syrup is absorbed evenly.
Even though it will be really hard.. you should wait for the ravani to cool before cutting into pieces, or else it will crumble. Ideally serve this Greek coconut cake cold from the fridge the following day.
So go ahead, give this traditional Greek coconut cake recipe a try and amaze you friends and family!
Similar recipes to try
If you love a traditional syrupy greek desert, the below recipes are made for you! Enjoy!
Looking for a traditional Greek Ravani recipe? This locally sourced recipe with step by step instructions will help you make the most syrupy, fluffy, tasty ravani cake!
In most recipes for Greek coconut cake, the eggs are added whole in the mixture, but with this recipe the egg whites are beaten into meringues. This is the secret to a more fluffy ravani cake and to avoid the egg-y smell, which can ruin the flavour of your cake.
To prepare the Greek coconut cake, start by mixing the butter and sugar (at high speed), until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, allowing each one to be absorbed, whilst mixing. Set the mixture aside.
Place the egg whites and a pinch of sugar in a clean mixing bowl. Make sure your egg whites, bowl and whisk attachment/s are free of any water. Use an electric mixer or electric hand beaters to whisk the egg whites until the mixture is very thick and glossy, and a long trailing peak forms when the whisk is lifted (meringues).
In another bowl, blend the flaked coconut, the flour and baking powder.
With a spatula add the meringues and half of the flour mixture into the whisked butter and blend lightly, until the ingredients are combined. Add the rest of the flour mixture and the orange zest; blend lightly with circular movements.
To bake the ravani cake, use a round cake tin, approx 30cm in diameter. Use a cooking brush to butter the bottom and sides of the cake tin. Sprinkle with 2 tbsp of flour and shake the cake tin, so that the flour covers the butter; get rid of any excess flour. This technique will prevent the ravani from sticking on the pan.
Bake the ravani in preheated oven at 180C/350F for 40-45 minutes, until golden and cooked through. After baking the cake, let it cool down for a while.
After the ravani has cooled down, start preparing the syrup. Add in a saucepan the sugar, the water and lemon juice; boil for about 5-10 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup has slightly thickened. Remove the pan from the stove and ladle slowly the syrup over the ravani cake, allowing each ladle of syrup to be absorbed, before ladling again. Allow time for the syrup to be absorbed and place in the fridge.
Sprinkle with some crushed pistachios and serve this extra syrupy Greek coconut cake cold with a full spoon of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
I tried it already and the taste was amazing! However the structure wasn’t too firm, I wonder if my measurement of the butter was right. Can you please tell me how much the needed butter amount is in grammes? (maybe I used too much) Thanks a lot!
I made this cake and much of the butter oozed out from the cake tin to the bottom of my oven I will try with 1 cup of butter do you think it will work?
I’m just making this and it’s still runny inside after 1 hour and 10 minutes at 180. I wonder if it’s too much butter too. This recipe doesn’t work for me. The only change I made was to use “moist coconut” instead of standard dessicated.
The cake is still runny and now flopped in the middle after 1.5 hours. Sad as I’ve never had a cake fail before.
Uh oh, it’s in the oven and NO responses for the suggestion that two cups of butter is too much. Well…I’ll know in about 45 minutes. Holding out hope…but disappointed that the author hasn’t addressed this in the comments.
Love your Galactoburico and karethopita recipes but this one (Ravini) turned out very, very loose after the appropriate time in oven. I did everything right. Where is the problem?
Chris,the cup measurements are American,one cup is 8oz. You can get a measurement conversion on the net,all these “cups” are meaningless to me!_I have made Revani many times (my son in law is Greek!) I have never had a failure with it.The kitchen always smells wonderful when it is cooking and it freezes well.Hope this helps.
I tried making this cake and unfortunately it didn’t turn out well at all, there’s just far too much butter for the amount of flour. Other ravani recipes I’ve looked up would use only one cup of butter for one cup of flour and one cup of semolina. It’s a shame this recipe seems to be a dud, so many of the others on this website are fantastic.
I made it yesterday….it never baked in the time indicated….oozes butter( way to much for the amount of flour) but still tasted amazing….very rich though, only need a small sliver.
I’m going to try half the amount of butter in recipe. Yes! Sounds way too much for the amount of flour. Could there be a misprint I wonder? I see there is no reply to the people asking about this.
Besides that strange 1 cup flour to 1 cup butter ratio, butter didn’t appear to be widely used in my recent vacation in Greece. Not for toast at breakfast. Not with the wonderful bread with dinner. I notice that some other recipes call for olive oil, another, vegetable oil??, and others even no oil at all.–The cake is moistened with the syrup. I do see that butter cookies are a tradition at Christmas, so what do I know.
Thank you so much for your wonderful and delicious recipes. I Just wanted to ask is it possible that the desserts that contain syrup can be store in freezer.If yes for how long please?
Thank you!Thank you!
I haven’t stored ravine in freezer personally, but I see no reason why you wouldn’t be able to. Freeze it in an air tight container and defrost it in the fridge the night before. You could also warm it up in the microwave just before serving to “revive” the juiciness of the cake.
For Baklava, and phyllo based deserts, I would freeze them before baking them and bake them on the day, then add the syrup. Freezing baked phyllo will make it loose its crunchiness so I wouldn’t recommend it.
That’s not a Ravani Eli. Ravani or Revani doesn’t have coconut. The Traditional Greek ravani has always Greek Yogurt. There are also other similar recipes but not with coconut. That’s a cake
Love your Galactoburico and karethopita recipes but this one (Ravini) turned out very, very loose after the appropriate time in oven. I did everything right. Where is the problem?
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Thankyou very much, i will make it today, being a Greek home, we love all the Greek Glyka!!
Can I use less sugar in the batter? 1 cup?
Could do but it would be a little less sweet (which is not always a bad thing 🙂 )
Love
Eli
I tried it already and the taste was amazing! However the structure wasn’t too firm, I wonder if my measurement of the butter was right. Can you please tell me how much the needed butter amount is in grammes? (maybe I used too much) Thanks a lot!
I would like to know if it would work if I substitute the sugar for xylitol?
We are catering for a Greek Feast and I wanted if we could freeze the cake and if so, should we put the syrup on or add it when we defrosted it?
I made it using xylitol instead of sugar, it was delish!
I made this cake and much of the butter oozed out from the cake tin to the bottom of my oven I will try with 1 cup of butter do you think it will work?
Can I freeze this?
I’m just making this and it’s still runny inside after 1 hour and 10 minutes at 180. I wonder if it’s too much butter too. This recipe doesn’t work for me. The only change I made was to use “moist coconut” instead of standard dessicated.
The cake is still runny and now flopped in the middle after 1.5 hours. Sad as I’ve never had a cake fail before.
Uh oh, it’s in the oven and NO responses for the suggestion that two cups of butter is too much. Well…I’ll know in about 45 minutes. Holding out hope…but disappointed that the author hasn’t addressed this in the comments.
Love your Galactoburico and karethopita recipes but this one (Ravini) turned out very, very loose after the appropriate time in oven. I did everything right. Where is the problem?
Chris,the cup measurements are American,one cup is 8oz. You can get a measurement conversion on the net,all these “cups” are meaningless to me!_I have made Revani many times (my son in law is Greek!) I have never had a failure with it.The kitchen always smells wonderful when it is cooking and it freezes well.Hope this helps.
Has anyone tried it with1 cup of butter? I want to make this, but am worried about the amount of butter after reading the comments.
Really wish I had read the reviews first. Not cooking at all after one hour. Grrrrrrrrrr
I tried making this cake and unfortunately it didn’t turn out well at all, there’s just far too much butter for the amount of flour. Other ravani recipes I’ve looked up would use only one cup of butter for one cup of flour and one cup of semolina. It’s a shame this recipe seems to be a dud, so many of the others on this website are fantastic.
The recipe says one cup
I made it yesterday….it never baked in the time indicated….oozes butter( way to much for the amount of flour) but still tasted amazing….very rich though, only need a small sliver.
I’m going to try half the amount of butter in recipe. Yes! Sounds way too much for the amount of flour. Could there be a misprint I wonder? I see there is no reply to the people asking about this.
Besides that strange 1 cup flour to 1 cup butter ratio, butter didn’t appear to be widely used in my recent vacation in Greece. Not for toast at breakfast. Not with the wonderful bread with dinner. I notice that some other recipes call for olive oil, another, vegetable oil??, and others even no oil at all.–The cake is moistened with the syrup. I do see that butter cookies are a tradition at Christmas, so what do I know.
What is the topping? It appears to be crushed pistachios, is this correct or are other nuts mixed in for the topping?
yeap its a handful of crushed pistachios 🙂
Thank you so much for your wonderful and delicious recipes. I Just wanted to ask is it possible that the desserts that contain syrup can be store in freezer.If yes for how long please?
Thank you!Thank you!
Hi Arvi
I haven’t stored ravine in freezer personally, but I see no reason why you wouldn’t be able to. Freeze it in an air tight container and defrost it in the fridge the night before. You could also warm it up in the microwave just before serving to “revive” the juiciness of the cake.
For Baklava, and phyllo based deserts, I would freeze them before baking them and bake them on the day, then add the syrup. Freezing baked phyllo will make it loose its crunchiness so I wouldn’t recommend it.
Does this recipe used sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
Unsweetened!
Love Revani! But “Greek” ?? Lol
That’s not a Ravani Eli. Ravani or Revani doesn’t have coconut. The Traditional Greek ravani has always Greek Yogurt. There are also other similar recipes but not with coconut. That’s a cake
I made this and all was perfect , so delicious
I love coconut and want to make this, but we have a pistachio allergy in the family, what can you suggest instead to top it with?
Love your Galactoburico and karethopita recipes but this one (Ravini) turned out very, very loose after the appropriate time in oven. I did everything right. Where is the problem?