Very lemony and very moist!
Tag: cake
Tres Leches (Three-milks cake)
This cake which probably originates in Nicaragua is popular all over Latin America. Whole milk can replace the cream in step 6, especially if you’re planning on frosting the cake with whipped cream!
Makowiec
The poppy seed roll is traditional all over Central and Eastern Europe under various names, such as cozonac in Romania, magonmaizite in Latvia, wienerbrød in Denmark, etc. The poppy seeds can be substituted with finely chopped walnuts (skip 6-7).
Buccellato
Christmas in Italy? Forget the panettone and have a go at this decadent fig cake from Sicily for a change. It is genuinely a meeting of cultures, as a Middle-Eastern influence can clearly be discerned in its list of ingredients.
Sfouf (Lebanese turmeric cake)
Sfouf is a plural (meaning “rows”, referring to how they’re cut), just like “brownies”, and as much a classic of Lebanese homebaking as brownies are in the US (as far as I know). Although again, the attraction of western things is such that sfouf have been somewhat left by the wayside while brownies and co. are widely available in coffeeshops and restaurants. Ah well.
Sfouf have a dense texture, are not too sweet (at least with this recipe), and have a startling orange colour due to the turmeric, which also gives them a particular taste hard to describe. To make them more nutty, you can pour half the batter into the pan, sprinkle nuts liberally, then pour the second half before creating the grid.
Below is the original recipe, followed by a vegan version!
Double Choc Brownies
Brownies typically let me down because they are too sweet. These, on the other hand, are chocolate-intense and simply irresistible. As sugar is included in the recipe, you can go as dark as you like with the chocolate!
Orange-Poppy Cake
The first time I made this cake, it didn’t look like much and I was a bit self-conscious bringing it to a party. But not a crumb was left, and six months later I was still hearing about “THAT cake”! At the time I used a blood oranges as that’s what I had on hand. Lemon could be substituted as well.
Prepare the glaze (steps 5-6) towards the end of the baking, so that both are warm when it is poured over.
Chocolate Nut Cake
A lovely and foolproof cake recipe for last-minute needs. I expect substituting pecans or almonds would yield an equally interesting result! For the double boiler, I use a heatproof mixing bowl placed over a small saucepan half-filled with water.
