Fanouropita Recipe

The tradition of baking a Fanouropita is a great honor bestowed upon St. Fanourios the Martyr and Miracle Worker. It is typically a small, round cake and is made whenever the saint reveals a lost object, a job, a cure or anything else the person has sought to find, is found.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup & 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup dark raisins
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• grated peel of one lemon
• pinch of salt
• powdered sugar to dust the top

Directions:

1. Mix flour and cinnamon in a large bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix oil, sugar, orange juice, water and lemon peel.  Beat well.
3. Add baking powder, salt, raisins and walnuts to the first bowl. Mix well.
4. Add dry ingredients to Bowl 2.
5. Grease and flour a baking pan.
6. Pour batter into pan.
7. Bake for 45 minutes @ 350 degrees.
8. Cool completely.
9. Dust with powdered sugar.

tip: If you let the cake sit a day before serving, it absorbs the flavors better.

*It is also a tradition for each person to say a prayer for St. Fanourios’ mother when eating their slice of the cake. The pita’s can also be brought to church to be blessed and shared among the people.
There is a beautiful icon of St. Fanourios located at the church of St. Syridon in Palos Heights, IL. St. Spyridon’s church also has a beautiful little book that contains the life and Paraklesis service to the saint. Call 708.385.0787 to order a copy. It is the only book I have been able to locate on St. Fanourios.

​From Adventures of An Orthodox Mom

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