Samali ( Semolina and Ground Almond Cake)

"From Diane Kochilas' book 'The Glorious Foods of Greece' (which I actually helped her edit for a while back in 1998). One of the great sweets of Thessaloniki, made in pastry shops, at home, and hawked from small carts on the streets all around the Kapani market."
 
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Ready In:
1hr 10mins
Ingredients:
17
Serves:
24
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ingredients

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directions

  • With an electric mixer in a large bowl, whip the cup of butter until soft. Add the confectioners' sugar a little at a time and whip until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla and continue whipping for about 5 minutes.
  • Combine the semolina, baking powder, almonds, and lemon zest in a small bowl. Slowly add the semolina mixture to the butter and sugar, beating to combine thoroughly.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 12- by 18-inch glass baking pan. In a medium metal bowl, place the egg whites, salt, and lemon juice and whip with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold the meringue into the semolina mixture, working fast to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until set, 35 to 40 minutes.
  • About 15 minutes before the samali is finished baking, prepare the syrup: Combine the granulated sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. As soon as the sugar dissolves, add the spices, zest, and brandy. Reduce the hear to medium-low and simmer until the syrup is viscous, about 10 minutes.
  • When the samali is baked, pull it out of the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Score it into 3-inch square pieces with a sharp paring knife. Pour the warm syrup over the hot samali and place back in the oven. Bake until the syrup is absorbed, another 5 to 7 minutes, and remove from the oven. Let cool and serve.

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Reviews

  1. Evelyn this is very good but a little dry in texture even with the addition of the syrup on top the cake was crumbly when slicing, I made a recipe such as this one years ago but unfortunately misplaced the recipe, this was close to it in flavor, I will make this again and mabey reduce the oven temperature slightly, I baked this on covection-bake for just under 28 minutes, thanks for sharing!...Kitten:)
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<style>body { background: url("http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3512121819_f2f1aaf050.jpg?v=0"); background-repeat: repeat-y; }</style> OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages! I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure. So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call. What did I do wrong? Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths. I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time. That's all for now.
 
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