If you are like me and not a huge fan of rich cake / Christmas cake, this is the perfect recipe for you to try out. This is my all-time favourite cake! Did you know that the origin of this cake is credited to the Burghers of Sri Lanka all the way back from the Dutch ruling period! I love it anyway and this information gave sentimental value to the cake as well.
Ingredients
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12 medium eggs (separated)
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500g semolina
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900g brown sugar
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500g ground cashew nuts
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250g butter
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¼ cup rosewater
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¼ cup honey
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1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
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1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1 teaspoon ground cardamom
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2 teaspoons mixed peel
Note: I personally prefer to chop my cashew nuts, because you can then taste it when you take a bite of the cake.
Method
· Put the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat well until very light and smooth. Then add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
· Mix in the semolina gradually, then add the peel and cashews which should be ground or chopped together. Add the honey, rose-water and spices.
· Beat 6 of the egg whites to a stiff froth and gradually but lightly fold them into the mixture. (Use the remaining egg whites for something else).
· Pour the mixture into a prepared tin, and bake in a moderate oven until cooked. (Ideally the cake should remain ever so slightly sticky in the center). It’s also very important that you slow bake it so that the moisture won't dry out. You can also do something more fun and bake it in a cup cake tray. You don’t usually see them in Sri Lanka! This way you can try out different icing suggestions that I have mentioned below.
· Leave in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out and remove the paper straight away or, because of the high sugar content, it will stick to the cake and be impossible to remove.
If you like a layer of icing on your cake, simply mix in some water to icing sugar until it becomes a thick paste and you can pour it over the cake once it has cooled down. It tastes even better when you add a drop of almond essence to the icing. Or you can dust just some icing sugar over the cake. Or avoid both of it because the cake itself is rich enough! Try it out all three ways till you figure out your preference.
The good thing about this cake is that you can keep it for a very long time. It will hold its taste and continue to remain moist.
By Jithendri Gomes
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