Middle eastern style syrup cakes are quite special in texture, flavors and fragrance - If you haven’t tried them yet, then you are missing out big time! I highly recommend seeking these out in traditional middle eastern bakeries or supermarkets - look for “Basbousa” or “Namoura”. My take here is an iteration of using the seasonal blood orange, crème fraîche and my favorite cardamom. It’s ultra tender, aromatic and a lovely make ahead dessert for a dinner party.

*Note: It’s nut-free and egg-free. By using Coconut Yoghurt instead of Crème Fraîche and Vegetable Oil instead of Ghee & Butter you can absolutely turn this into a stunning Vegan Dessert centerpiece.

Make sure to read the full recipe before starting as it involves resting time therefore plan your schedule accordingly

Ingredients (16 pieces)

Dry Ingredients

130g Coarse Semolina (mostly found in Indian or Middle Eastern Specialty Stores); Fine would work too but the resulting crumb will be tighter and dense

115g Coconut Flour or Ground Desiccated Coconut (Tap on the link for my preferred brand)

1/2 tbsp Ground Cardamom

50g Granulated Sugar rubbed with 1 tbsp Blood Orange Zest + 1 tbsp Lemon Zest

Wet Ingredients

30g Ghee, melted

56g Salted Butter, melted

1-2 tsp Orange Blossom Water (based on tolerance for the essence) - feel free to substitute with Vanilla Extract if opposed to floral notes

2 tbsp Blood Orange Juice

125g Crème Fraîche or Whole Milk Greek Yoghurt

1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda

Syrup

180g Granulated Sugar

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

2 tbsp Blood Orange Juice

110g Water

1 tsp Orange Blossom Water

4-5 Crushed Cardamom Pods

4-5 Lemon Peel Strips (optional)

2 tbsp Tahini for greasing

1 Blood Orange, thinly sliced and each slice quartered - for decoration

Directions

💥 Make the syrup - in a saucepan combine sugar, water, Cardamom pods and lemon peels (if using). Bring it to simmer and cook for 7-8 mins or until a thin/runny syrup consistency is achieved. Add lemon juice, orange juice and blossom water, mix thoroughly and turn off the heat. Let it cool completely.

💥 In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Transfer orange juice, melted ghee and butter into the dry ingredients bowl. Mix really well and keep it aside. Now in a small bowl, combine crème fraîche / yoghurt with baking soda, mix thoroughly and let it sit for 15mins or until it looks frothy and increase in volume. Transfer this frothy mixture into the large bowl with Semolina mixture. Combine everything thoroughly and let it sit for 45-50 mins . Towards the end of resting time, pre-heat oven to 400F

💥 Grease a 8”x8” square pan generously with 2 tbsp Tahini. Transfer the rested batter into the greased pan, press it into an even layer (I use an oiled measuring cup to smooth out evenly). Using a sharp knife cut into 16 even squares then place a quarter slice of orange on each square. Bake for 15 mins , then reduce oven temperature to 375F and continue baking for another 15 mins or until it’s golden and cooked

💥 Take out from oven and pour the cooled syrup (make sure to fish out Cardamom pods before pouring) all over (it’s absolutely critical to keep the cake hot and syrup cool). Let it absorb and cool down completely. Then re-cut the squares, serve with crème fraîche or Greek Yoghurt and fresh blood orange segments.

Recipes

Blood Orange Cardamom Semolina Cake