Sfouf - Semolina Tumeric Cake

Sfouf is a Lebanese almond-semolina cake. It is made from semolina flour flavored with tumeric, sugar, and pine nuts or almonds.  This recipe calls for ground aniseed, which I was skeptical about at the beginning but it does add to the cake itself a very nice taste.

This is the first time I bake this cake, and I was surprised it does not contain eggs! So it is an egg-less cake which people that do not eat cake can do!  

Also, something different about this cake is the use of tahini to “butter” the tray or cake tin. It gives the edges a beautiful crunch and nuttiness. For an authentic experience, do not substitute the tahini with butter, trust me, it tastes great!

Sfouf - Semolina Tumeric Cake

Ingredients

2 cups semolina flour (ferkha in lebanese)
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable or olive oil
1 tsp Turmeric (Curcuma)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp aniseed (ground)
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups milk (or water) - I used milk
2 tbsp Tahini (sesame paste)
Sesame seeds, sliced blanced almonds or Pine nuts, to garnish

Method
 
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC)

In a bowl, mix semolina, flour, turmeric, baking powder, and aniseed. Add oil and stir to make a paste.

In a separate bowl, melt sugar in cold milk. Add gradually to the flour and spices paste and mix using an electric cake mixer.

Grease the baking dish with Tahini and pour batter. Make sure it’s flat. Sprinkle with sesame, pine nuts or decorate with almonds. I used almonds here.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until golden-brown. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Cut in pieces. Serve with tea or coffee.

ENJOY!