Semolina Cake With Lemon & Fennel
Photography: CHRIS BERNABEO
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Semolina Cake With Lemon & Fennel

In this recipe, the fennel (subtle but necessary) and the lemon (present enough to pique your interest) support and enhance the semolina, rather than upstaging it. The semolina, more delicate than cornmeal both in flavour and texture, gives a much more tender crumb than an all-flour cake is capable of. It really is pure elegance.
Photography: CHRIS BERNABEO

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Ingredients
Cooking spray, softened/melted butter or neutral oil, for greasing
250g of sugar
2 tbsp of finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp of fennel seeds, crushed or finely chopped
230g of plain full-cream yoghurt (not Greek-style)
2 large eggs
145g of plain flour
85g of semolina flour
1 tbsp of baking powder
1 tsp of kosher salt
70g of olive, grapeseed or canola oil
Method
Step 1

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F/Gas mark 5). Lightly grease a 23cm cake tin with cooking spray, butter or oil, and line with a round of baking paper.

Step 2

In a medium bowl, and using your hands, mix the sugar, lemon zest and fennel seeds together until the texture resembles wet sand. Whisk in the yoghurt and eggs.

Step 3

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, semolina, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the yoghurt mixture and oil until blended.

Step 4

Pour the batter into the cake tin. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cake is golden brown on top and along the edges (it might look freckled/slightly spotted, which is good) and is pulling away from the side of the pan.

Step 5

Let it cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Tip: The cake can be baked 3 days ahead of time. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Recipe courtesy of Sweet Enough by Alison Roman (Hardie Grant, £23, was £28)

Photography: Chris Bernabeo

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