Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Ravanija
A moist semolina cake drenched in sweet syrup, a simple dessert across North Macedonia.
Macedonian · easy · serves 10
prep 15 min · cook 35 min
~361 cal · 7g protein · 74g carbs · 5g fat · 2g fiber · 48g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Ravanija, known as revani across the Balkans and Turkey, is a simple, syrup-soaked cake much loved in North Macedonia. A legacy of the long Ottoman presence, it is the kind of everyday sweet made for guests and family gatherings.
The batter of , yogurt, and eggs bakes into a light, slightly grainy cake, which is then doused, still warm, in a cold sugar syrup often scented with lemon. The cake drinks up the syrup and turns wonderfully moist and sweet. Cut into diamonds and sometimes topped with a nut, it is unfussy comfort.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 10
1 1/2 cups fine
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 cup yogurt
3/4 cup sugar for the batter
1 1/2 cups sugar for the syrup
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 lemon
1/4 cup shredded coconut, to finish
Instructions
1
Separate the eggs. Whisk the yolks with the batter sugar until pale, then stir in the yogurt, the vanilla and the lemon zest, and fold in the semolina, flour and baking powder.
2
Beat the whites with a pinch of salt to stiff peaks and fold them through the batter last.
✎ Chef’s note
The whipped whites are what make a ravanija spongy enough to drink the syrup. Folded in whole, the eggs give a denser cake that stays wet on top instead of soaking through.
3
Pour into a tin and bake at 350F (180C) until golden and set, about 30 minutes.
4
Boil the syrup sugar with water and lemon, then cool.
✎ Chef’s note
The classic trick is hot cake, cold syrup (or the reverse). The temperature gap helps the cake drink the syrup without turning gummy.
5
Cut the cake into diamonds while it is still in the tin, pour the cold syrup slowly over it, and leave it until every drop is absorbed.
6
Scatter with shredded coconut and serve.
Macedonian Ottoman-legacy sweet.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Skopje. Skopje bakes tavce gravce, beans cooked slowly in a clay pan with paprika and dried peppers until the top crisps. Macedonian cooking is pepper-heavy, with ajvar relish made in autumn batches, grilled meats, and sirenje white cheese.
🗺️
North Macedonia. Tavce gravce is named for its pot. Dried beans are cooked with onion, paprika and dried peppers, then baked in an unglazed earthenware dish that goes to the table, and the crust that forms on top is the point of the exercise. The Tetovo style is the best-known variation, and the dish is regularly called the national one.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from North Macedonia
Tavče GravčeNorth Macedonia's national dish: white beans baked in a clay pan with paprika, peppers, and mint.
BurekCoiled flaky pastry filled with cheese, baked golden and eaten with a drinking yogurt.
PastrmajlijaAn oval bread base topped with cubed marinated meat and baked crisp, North Macedonia's boat-shaped flatbread.
Browse all North Macedonia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Mould or tin, Whisk.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it a North Macedonia meal
Selsko MesoDinner
Similar dishes from around the world
Kalb el LouzAlgeria
SheqerpareKosovo
Basbousa (Semolina Cake in Syrup)Sudan
SachertorteAustria
RoshogollaBangladesh
Bermuda Rum CakeBermuda
Frequently asked questions
What is Ravanija?
A moist semolina cake drenched in sweet syrup, a simple dessert across North Macedonia.
Where does Ravanija come from?
Ravanija is a Macedonian dish from Skopje, North Macedonia.
Can Ravanija be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ravanija recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Ravanija safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Ravanija take to make?
About 50 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 35 minutes cooking), serving 10.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.