Monday, March 13, 2006

Semolina Cake

Over the weekend, I had my family over for dinner. None of them are big sweet eaters although my aunt does a fair amount of baking herself. I knew I needed to serve something for dessert that would go nicely with tea and coffee and wasn't too over the top so I decided on this semolina cake. I had made it before successfully and, although there is a sugar syrup poured over the hot cake, once cooled the sweetness of the sugar mellows considerably.

Semolina is coarsely ground durum wheat that is highly glutinous. In its package it looks like cornmeal but once baked in a cake, it expands making the cake grainy. There is no flour added so the texture is not like traditional cake. Without the sugar syrup, the cake would be dry and crumbly. With it, each bite was syrupy and moist. It is very similar to the Middle Eastern cake called Basboosa.

The cake was enjoyable to eat and everyone liked it. It is best eaten cut into small squares or diamonds and is an easy recipe to try when the desire to explore foreign baked goods takes hold.

6 comments:

YouGuysKnow said...

that semolina cake looks delish. i think i have had this before with a rosewater-infused flavor? had it at a hari krishna lunch thing that a friend took me to. interesting! keep up the delicious baking...

and THANKS for the blogroll! likewise.

Canadian Baker said...

Hi EP - Yes, you can infuse the syrup with rose water. The recipe link in the post (for Basboosa) includes it. I didn't use it in my syrup because I'm not a big fan - plus I don't have any :) Thanks for stopping by!

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Maya Yunos said...

1stly I ve to say that your blog is just amazing. You photograph very well too. I often feel tht I never do any justice to my bakes coz the pics I take doesnt look gud! I'm gonna try your Almond fingers tomorrow. Will let u know how it went :) 1 More thing, If its possible, can i have the recipe for this semolina cake plz? Mom luv semolina cake so much. E recipe tht i normally used have flour in it. Yours should taste better. I hope i can bake some for her. Would really appreciate your help...thanks a lot :)

kamilah said...

can you please send me the semolina cake receipe, i've long looking for one and this one look delicious

Anonymous said...

This cake of your photo looks really yammy. ^^ Wow, semolina cake is really great when it is properly made. It is kind of sweet, but, hey, we have to eat some sweet and carbohydrate, right? Have a great day. Thank you for your great post.