Lemon Semolina Syrup Cakes

I grew up eating semolina quite regularly in India, in both savory and sweet dishes. So I tend to gravitate towards recipes with semolina even when I'm not making Indian food. Since middle eastern food tends to use a lot of semolina as well, I decided to look for dessert recipes using it in my copy of Sweet (Yotam Ottolenghi & Helen Goh).

Boy oh boy, did I find a gem! These tea cakes are amazingly delicious. Light & citrusy from the lemon and dense and fudge-y from the almond meal and semolina. It doesn't hurt that you soak it in syrup as soon as you take it out of the oven. The cakes become extra moist from this quick lemon syrup soak. The perfect dessert for the beginning of spring. 

They go really well with an afternoon cup of tea or as a dessert after a light dinner. I might even try and pass them off as breakfast fare, ha!

Semolina Almond Cake:
120 gm butter, room temperature
135 gm sugar
1 lemon, zested and juiced to give 1.5 tbsp juice
100gm almond meal
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
70 gm coarse semolina (or fine semolina)
½ teaspoon baking powder

For the syrup:
4 tbsp lemon juice
50 g sugar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with liners or parchment paper (only 8 of them). Using an electric beater, beat butter, lemon zest and sugar together for 3 minutes till light and fluffy. Add the almond meal and beat for another minute. Add the eggs and beat till incorporated. Add the semolina & baking powder and mix till incorporated. Ad the lemon juice and mix quickly. 

Divide this batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes till a nice light golden brown on top and a skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle of one of the cakes. 

While the cakes are baking, bring together the syrup ingredients, sugar and lemon juice, to a boil on medium high heat. Lower heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Set is aside. As soon as the cakes come out, pour this syrup over the cakes, distributing it equally. Let it cool in the pan for 30 minutes and then take them out. The cakes can be kept wrapped air tight at room temperature for 3 days. Enjoy!