This cake to me is always so special and festive. It feels like I can taste the small alleyways of the shuk (the open air market in Jerusalem) with each bite. It’s acidic and bright from the Labneh (strained yogurt), very floral from the rose water and the crumb structure is perfect from the coarse semolina. This incredible cake is moist and delicious and just melts in your mouth. The almonds inside the cake in addition to the pistachios on top give the cake a sublime nutty crunch. There’s something so nostalgic yet modern about this cake and it’s hard not to have 3-4 slices of it after dinner.
Did you know that the Jewish philosopher Maimonides recommended eating up until being 2/3rds full? He would never have recommended that you clean your plate like your grandmother did. Get more Jewish food thoughts here.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ¼ cups 300 g butter at room temperature
- 1 ⅔ cups 330 g granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup 170 g semolina
- 1 ½ cups 150 g almond meal
- 1 cup 100 g slivered almonds
- 1 tablespoon cardamom
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons rose water not rose essence
Frosting
- 2 cups Labneh
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Hibiscus for sprinkling
- ¼ cup whole shelled pistachios
Nutritional Facts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Grease a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper.
- Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on high speed until fully combined, do not overwork.
- With the machine still running, add in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides with a silicone spatula between each egg, the mixture will look curdled here and that’s fine, it won’t affect the end result.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and by hand add in the semolina, almond meal, almonds, cardamom, baking soda, and salt. Fold to incorporate with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon.
- Fold in the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract and rose water and pour batter into the pan using an offset spatula to level out the batter.
- Bake for 60-65 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
- Meanwhile prepare frosting by mixing labneh with powdered sugar and salt until well combined.
- Cool the cake and remove from the pan.
- Spread frosting over cake and decorate with ground hibiscus and whole pistachios.
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