Orange semolina cake

This recipe is adapted from a traditional Greek Revani cake recipe; I have halved the amount of syrup to stop the cake being too sweet and sticky.  For me, there’s a tipping point with syrup – I love baklava for example, but not when you bite into it and syrup pours out.  I realise it is unlike me to call for restraint, but it had to happen one day!  I added some finely grated zest to the batter to make sure the orange flavour wasn’t lost.

Mr CC and I are in the process of moving.  That perhaps makes it sound more organised than it is – basically, we’ve sold our place and we’re looking for a place to move to (did anyone say ‘stress’?).  I’m trying to wind down my larder cupboards...currently so well stocked that the Russian army could drop in unannounced and all enjoy several courses.  That was a favourite phrase of my mother’s; I’m not sure why it was always the Russian army rather than any other country – perhaps she felt it conveyed scale?

Anyway, as Confucius never said: the task of clearing larder cupboards begins with the first bag of semolina.   Hence this week’s bake of semolina cake.  Unusually for me, it’s a dairy free bake.

The semolina gives the cake a different texture to classic sponge; perhaps a little more bite, but in a pleasing rather than gritty way.  As with all syrup cakes, this is best made a day in advance and left to absorb.

Ingredients

For the cake:

175g caster sugar
4 eggs
325g semolina
200g plain flour
225ml olive oil – I used the light one suitable for baking
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
250ml water
Grated zest of one orange

For the syrup:

250ml water
225g caster sugar
Large pieces of orange peel from 1 orange

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

Line a 23cm round springform pan with baking paper.

Beat together the sugar and eggs until thick and creamy.

Add the semolina, flour, olive oil, vanilla, baking powder, water and zest and beat until well combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out cleanly. 

Leave to cool completely in the tin.

Now make the syrup: place the water, sugar and peel in a pan and bring to the boil without stirring.

Leave to boil gently for 8-10 minutes until it reduces and turns syrupy.

Pour through a sieve into a jug or bowl.

Pour/brush over the cool cake and leave to absorb.  I like to leave the cake in the tin for this stage as any leakage is trapped and absorbed into the cake (if you’re using a loose bottomed or springform tin wrap the outside of the tin with foil so that, if there is any leakage, it’s not all over your work top).

Serve with thick cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.