Namoura Syrup Soaked Semolina Cake Food

NAMOURA (SYRUP-SOAKED SEMOLINA CAKE)

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over high heat, boil sugar and 1 cup/240 milliliters of water, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add lemon juice and extract, and stir to combine. Simmer until thickened into a syrup, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with butter. Place the semolina, melted butter and sugar in a large bowl and stir until well combined; set aside.
• Place the yogurt and baking soda in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Set aside until the mixture has nearly doubled in size, about 10 minutes.
• Pour the yogurt mixture over the semolina mixture and mix well to combine. Transfer to the buttered baking dish and press into an even layer. Using a knife, score the surface of the namoura on the diagonal into 2-inch diamond-shaped pieces. Top each diamond in the center with an almond. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Place baking dish on a wire rack and drizzle the cooled syrup over the top of the hot namoura. Let cool to room temperature before recutting along the scored lines and serving.

NAMOURA (BASBOUSA)

Steps:

• In a saucepan, add water, sugar and rose water, stir through and bring to the boil for about 6 minutes. Set aside to cool down to room temp.
• In a large mixing bowl add semolina and plant based butter, combine well using hands until a dough forms. Cover with cling wrap and set aside for a minimum of 30 minutes.
• Once dough has rested, crumble dough using your fingers and add sugar, rose water, bicarb soda, baking powder, salt, coconut yoghurt and combine using your fingers.
• Coat baking tray with tahini and flatten dough as evenly as possible.
• Use a knife to push the edges down and off the tray and then cut into squares or diamond pieces and place one almond in the middle of each piece
• Bake in a preheated oven of 180C (356F), place in the middle of the oven for the first 15 minutes and then move it to the top for the last 15 minutes. Baking time is approximately 30min or until lightly golden
• Evenly pour a generous amount of sugar syrup over baked namoura.
• Allow to cool down to room temp before taking the pieces out

SEMOLINA CAKE SOAKED WITH LEMON SYRUP (REVANI)

Steps:

• Butter and coat with fine dry breadcrumbs a 9 x 9 inch Pyrex pan.
• Set oven rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 350°.
• Whisk eggs and ½ cup sugar by hand in the bowl of an electric mixer.
• Place the bowl on the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; whip the mixture on high speed until pale and thickened, about 4 minutes.
• While the eggs are whipping, stir the semolina and remaining ½ cup sugar together in a medium mixing bowl; stir in the sour cream.
• Dissolve the baking soda in the brandy in a small cup and stir into the semolina mixture; add in the orange zest and butter, stir to combine.
• When the egg mixture is ready, fold it into the semolina batter with a large rubber spatula.
• Scrape the cake batter into the prepared pan; smooth the top.
• Bake cake for about 30 minutes, or until it is well risen and deep golden and a pick comes out clean.
• Cool the cake on a rack for 10 minutes.
• While the cake is cookng, prepare the syrup: stir together all the ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat; let the syrup boil gently for 5 minutes.
• While the syrup is cooling, score the cake into 2 inch diamonds or rectangles with the point of a sharp knife, cutting about 1 inch into the cake.
• After the syrup is cooked, remove the lemon half from the syrup and slowly pour the syrup all over the top of the cake so that it is evenly absorbed.
• Cool completely.
• Serve: cut through the scoring marks completely with a sharp knife; use a flexible spatula to first loosen each piece of cake, then remove it from the pan.
• Only the first piece is difficult and may break slightly, the rest should come out easily.
• Storage: keep the cake pan covered with plastic wrap at a cool room temperature.

NAMOURA - LEBANESE SEMOLINA CAKE

Steps:

• 1. Prepare the Namoura: -In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients leaving out the almonds for garnish. The mix should be slightly thick and sticky. -Spread the tahini on the bottom and sides of a 14-15 inch round pan to prevent sticking. (feel free to use a square or rectangular pan, don't go too small though, Namoura shouldn't rise very high, not more than 1 inch thick) -Pour the Namoura mix in the pan and smooth the top. (You can do that by dipping your fingers in some melted butter and smoothing out the top) -Leave the cake to rest for 5-6 hours. (It's OK to decrease the time if you're in a hurry) -Before you bake the cake, with a watered knife, cut the namoura with evenly spaced lines to create square or diamond shaped pieces. (you don't have to cut it through to the bottom) -Decorate each square with a blanched almond or any other nuts of your choice (traditionally we use almonds or sometimes pine nuts) -Bake the Namoura in a 400 degrees preheated oven until it's golden.
• 2. Prepare the Sugar Syrup: -Boil together sugar and water. -Add lemon juice, when the syrup starts thickening. -Add rose water and orange blossom water just before you turn off the heat or right after. -Cool the sugar syrup completely.
• 3. To finish the Namoura: -Take off the Namoura from the oven, while it's very hot, pour the cooled sugar syrup all over. Preferably not all the syrup at once, let the cake absorb it then repeat. -Cool the Namoura, then cut it (on the already existing lines) and enjoy!