Recipes: Semolina Orange Cake

This Semolina Orange cake is comforting, not too sweet, soft and has a citrusy punch with the use of orange juice, zest and sweet orange syrup. With a crunchy outer layer and a delicate moist centre, this cake has a much more lighter texture than your usual ‘sponge cake’ batter. We used fine semolina flour, as opposed to all purpose flour which gives a chewier texture and slightly nutty notes. We topped this cake with some thick and creamy Greek yogurt to balance the sweetness and sprinkled with some roughly chopped pistachios for an added crunchy texture.

Semolina is a flour ground from durum wheat, as opposed to ‘softer’ wheat used to make milled flours like all purpose flour. Semolina is often used to make pasta, but we found it works brilliantly in cakes to create a crumbly and chewier texture with a hint of nuttiness. Semolina can be found in ‘course’ or ‘fine’ consistency - so make sure you find the ‘fine’ flour for this recipe.

Please note* Semolina is not gluten free, so if you’d like to make a GF version, just substitute semolina for a GF alternative. (This will slightly alter the texture and flavour). The syrup poured over the top keeps this cake moist for several days after baking. This cake is a popular dessert in Turkey, and many other Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries. Each country has their own ‘take’ on this bake but the staple ingredients such as the semolina and sweet citrus syrup is used universally. This is definitely one of the best tea time cakes, and we can assure you will be a hit with all your friends & family! Scroll down to see the full recipe…

Ingredients:

180g fine semolina flour

110g oat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

130ml orange juice

2 tbsp orange zest, finely grated

1 tsp orange extract

230g unsalted butter

2/3 cup coconut sugar

3 medium eggs (room temperature)

Orange Syrup

2/3 cup orange juice

3 tbsp caster sugar

Topping

1 cup natural Greek yogurt (we used Lancashire Farm)

1/2 cup roughly chopped pistachios

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 170C. Generously butter the inside of a 20cm round tin pan.

To make the syrup* Put the sugar and orange juice into a pan over a medium heat and let the sugar dissolve. Bring to a boil. Once the syrup begins to boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let it cool completely.

Place semolina flour, oat flour, baking powder, ground nutmeg and sea salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine orange juice, orange zest and orange extract. Set aside.

Using another bowl, beat butter, coconut sugar and maple syrup until fluffy. Using a spatula scrape down the sides of the bowl and start adding eggs one at a time. Beating well after each addition.

Using a spatula gently fold in 1/2 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 the juice mixture and repeat until all is combined. Mixture should have no lumps. Do not over mix*

The batter should have quite a thick consistency. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes. Once out of the oven, 5 minutes in - tip the pan upside down to remove from the tin.

Using a fork, lightly prick the top of the cake a few times, ensuring you create little indents all over the top surface. Pour the orange syrup over the cake until all is absorbed.

Allow the cake to cool completely (approx 1 hour).

Once the cake has cooled, using a spatula spread the Greek yogurt over the top and finish off with a sprinkling of pistachios.

Store in the fridge in an air tight container. Consume within 2-3 days.