Sfouf Cake baked for my son-in-law’s recent birthday, and topped with an edible winter pansy.
“Sfouf” is a Lebanese Semolina and Turmeric Cake. (Sfouf means “rows” or “lines”) This simple plant-based recipe is uniquely delicious and a vibrant, golden yellow.
- 3 cups coarse or fine semolina, or combination mixture of both
- 1 cup all-purpose or cake flour
- 2 Tbsp. turmeric powder
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1 cup light flavour vegetable oil
- 2 cups plain almond milk
- 2 cups white sugar (use full amount of sugar, don’t skimp!)
- pinch of salt
- (Optional) 1 tsp. ground anise
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- Tahini (approximately 3 to 4 Tbsp.)
- 1/4 cup Raw White Sesame Seeds (Some substitute the sesame seeds for blanched whole/slivered almonds, or pine nuts)
Preheat oven to 375* F.
- Using a 9 x 13 inch pan, grease all of it by brushing both the bottom and the sides of the pan with the Tahini sesame oil until all is slightly covered.
- In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients (flours, turmeric, baking powder, and optional ground anise).
- In another bowl, mix the oil, vanilla and milk, with the sugar, mix until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Combine dry and wet ingredients together, beating by hand until batter is a smooth, bright yellow.
- Pour batter into the tahini-greased pan.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds or the other nuts over the top of the batter.
- **Bake in a preheated oven for 35 minutes**, or until a wooden skewer/toothpick inserted into centre of the cake, comes out clean. **If your 9×13 cake baking pan is thin, or you have a “hot” oven, place your cake pan on top of a cookie sheet.
- Cool in pan for 30 minutes on wire rack, then invert onto another wire rack.
- If possible, and for a superior flavour, best to let the cake rest for a few hours before cutting to eat. Cake even tastes better the next day!
- Cut the Sfouf Cake into square “row” or diamond shaped “lines” and store in an airtight container.
Please note, some ground turmeric can be either a lighter or darker colour, but the taste is the same.