Semolina Syrup Cake
by Meliz Berg
Şamali is a syrupy cake (known as şam tatlısı or şambali in Turkey) made only with semolina, and no flour. The eggs and baking powder give the cake its wonderful rise and depending on how you like the texture of your cake crumb, a reduced cooking time will result in a softer crust and lighter sponge, whereas an extra 10 minutes or so will give it a thicker, darker crust and a slightly more grainy texture. 💡 We recommend baking this cake using the proportions displayed in the ingredients and method. Avoid scaling up or down if possible.
Method
Based on 21 servings, adjust as needed.
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6.
Step 2
Grease a deep, flat baking tray measuring approximately 22 cm × 34 cm with the softened butter.
Step 3
Make the syrup first so that it has time to cool down fully. Add 600ml water and 400g of the sugar to a pan with the cinnamon stick and rose water. Bring the syrup to the boil, stirring continuously, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the lemon juice and stir. Leave to one side.
Step 4
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and remaining 125g of sugar quite vigorously until smooth and fluffy. Add the oil, lemon zest, vanilla and yoghurt and whisk for several minutes more. Add the ground cinnamon, semolina, baking powder and mastic (or extra vanilla extract) and stir until completely smooth.
Step 5
Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking tray and dot three almonds across the top of the batter, followed by six more almonds beneath each one so that you have 21 almonds in total (you will use these almonds as markers to cut the cake once cooked). Place the baking tray in the oven and bake for 30–40 minutes on the bottom shelf of the oven until golden brown and slightly risen (a cocktail stick should come out clean). Remove the cake from the oven and leave for around 5 minutes.
Step 6
Cut the cake directly on the baking tray into around 21 rectangular pieces, using the almonds as a guide, then carefully pour the reserved syrup over the cake. The cake will look like it’s drowning in the syrup, but that’s fine. Allow it to cool completely, cover with foil and rest at room temperature (preferably overnight) before serving.
Step 7
Sprinkle with the crushed pistachios before plating up and serve each slice with a scoop of vanilla or damla sakızı (mastic) ice cream. Store the şamali in the baking tray at room temperature for up to 4 days, ensuring that you seal the cake tightly with foil to keep it moist.
- Ingredients
- Based on 21 servings
-
200ml Olive Oil, or Sunflower Oil 1x Sainsbury's Olive Oil 1L -
0.5 Lemon Juice, Juice and zest 1x Sainsbury's Lemons -
2 tbsp Rose Water 1x KTC Rose Water 190ml -
0.25 tsp Vanilla Extract, or Ground Mastic 1x Sainsbury's Madagascan Vanilla Extract, Taste the Difference 38ml -
100g Thick Set Natural Yoghurt 1x Sainsbury's Authentic Greek Yogurt, Taste the Difference 500g -
25g Unsalted Butter, softened 1x Sainsbury's British Butter, Unsalted 250g -
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon 1x Sainsbury's Ground Cinnamon 38g -
1.5 tsp Baking Powder 1x Sainsbury's Baking Powder 160g -
6 Large Eggs 1x Sainsbury's British Free Range Eggs Large x6 -
525g Caster Sugar 1x Sainsbury's White Caster Sugar 1kg -
400g Semolina 1x Whitworths Semolina 500g -
21 Blanched Almonds 1x Sainsbury's Almonds Blanched 100g -
2 tbsp Pistachios, crushed 1x Sainsbury's Pistachio Nuts 100g -
1 Cinnamon Stick 1x Sainsbury's Cinnamon Sticks 13g -
1 Tub Vanilla Ice Cream 1x Sainsbury's Vanilla Ice Cream, Taste the Difference 480ml