Rich Sugee ( Semolina) Cake

I made this a while back. I had never eaten sugee cake before but friends of mine kept requesting for it. I looked around for a few recipes and decided to use this one as it seemed the easiest and required the least amount of eggs and fat.

The outcome was absolutely amazing! I strongly urge all of you to give it a try. It’s a little trickier compared to the other cakes I have baked before but it’s worth the effort.

What you need:

·        220g unsalted butter, diced and softened slightly at room temperature

·        120g caster sugar

·        3 tablespoons milk or water

·        100g semolina (sugee) flour

·        3 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks

·        120g caster sugar

·        2 teaspoons vanilla essence

·        80g plain flour (all-purpose flour)

·        1 teaspoon baking powder

·        ¼ teaspoon salt

·        120g ground almonds

·        50g finely chopped almonds (almond nibs)

Putting it together:

1.    Cream butter and 120g sugar in a mixer for about one minute at medium 
high speed. With the mixer still on, add milk gradually, followed by the 
semolina flour. Mix till combined. Switch off the mixer and let the mixture 
stand for an hour. This allows the semolina to absorb moisture.

2.     Preheat oven to 180°C. Use cooking oil or melted butter to lightly grease 
the bottom and sides of a round cake tin measuring 7 inches (17.5cm) in 
diameter. Line the bottom of the tin with greaseproof paper.

3.     Beat eggs and egg yolks in a mixer till frothy. Add 120g sugar gradually 
and beat at medium high speed for a full five minutes till pale-coloured. Stir 
in essence.

4.     Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add ground and chopped almonds. Mix 
well.

5.    Add half the egg mixture to the butter mixture. Fold gently till almost 
combined. Then add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and fold. 

6.    Add remaining egg mixture and flour mixture alternately. Fold till all 
ingredients are combined. Do not overmix.

7.    Pour mixture into cake tin and smoothen the surface with a spatula.

8.    Bake for 45 minutes. If the top of the cake starts to burn, remove the cake 
from the oven after 35 minutes, cover the top of the cake with aluminium 
foil, then bake for another 10 minutes. The cake is ready when an inserted 
skewer or satay stick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes 
at room temperature before removing it from the tin. Run a knife round the 
side of the cake and overturn it onto a wire rack to cool.

Some notes:
• Milk adds richness and flavour to this cake. If not available, replace with 
water but expect a slight loss in flavour.
• The extra egg yolks add moisture and richness to the cake.
• It is important to beat the eggs well. This incorporates air into the mixture, 
which helps the cake rise during baking.
• It is not necessary to toast the almonds before use in this recipe.
• Chopped almonds add flavour and some crunch to this cake. Do not omit.
• Buy ready ground almonds and chopped almonds to save time and effort.
• Plain flour gives the cake structure and should not be entirely replaced 
with semolina flour.
• When folding the flour and egg mixture into the butter mixture, do not 
overmix as this will result in a heavy and dense cake.
• Sifting icing sugar over a baked cake does wonders to its appearance. Or 
spread whipped cream and sprinkle toasted chopped or sliced nuts. Refer 
to cake decorating books for more ideas.

Recipe source: www.boostprints.com

SORRY there are no pictures, I promise to upload some when i bake this again!