Moist and slight chewy Semolina cake also known as Sugee cake served with delightful citrus and bay leaves syrup.

Semolina Cake

As far as I could remember, my mom may have baked semolina cake, once or twice for our Eid celebration.

It was nothing fancy, just a simple straight forward Kek Suji (Sugee Cake) as we called it.
No flavours, no syrup!

Due to high humidity in Malaysia, this Sugee Cake didn't survive long.
Mouldy spots started to appear after few days.

And as kids, we loved to bite into something soft and smooth like traditional butter cake, which totally opposite for Sugee cake or Semolina Cake!

And that happened 4 decades ago, I have not heard of Semolina Cake then, but Sugee Cake (Kek Suji), yes, all the time!

Little did I know then that Sugee / Suji and semolina, referring to the same ingredients.

What is semolina?

Semolina sounds fancy, isn't it?

Semolina is also known as sugee, suji in (I would say) South East Asia or rawa (in Hindi).
Semolina is the course flour made from durum wheat.

Now I get you thinking.....

What is Durum Wheat?

Durum wheat is the hardest wheat of all.
It has high protein and gluten content than any other wheat.

When milled the endosperm in the durum wheat gives that rich golden yellow colour to semolina.

Semolina is widely used to make spaghetti, couscous and other pasta.
Semolina has that nutty, sweet taste to it.
It has that rich golden colour like polenta.

Both polenta and semolina looks the same, but they are not from the same source.
Semolina from wheat and polenta is from corn.
Semolina is high in gluten content while Polenta is gluten free!

Why use Semolina flour to bake?

Ideally, semolina flour is good for making pasta like spaghetti, fettuccine and couscous. 

Pasta made with semolina flour tend to be stronger and can hold its shapes better.
Unlike pasta made from all purpose flour, they tend to be softer.

Why use Semolina flour in bakes like this Semolina Cake?

Cakes baked using semolina yields a much denser cake, it has a nutty, earthy taste and cakes are slightly chewy with a bite-y texture (grainy).

One cake that came to mind is Basbousa, a traditional Middle Eastern sweet cake.
Basbousa, traditionally made with semolina, flavoured with rose water or orange blossom water.

Two good reasons why I opt to bake using semolina flour: 

First reason :-

I have a packet of semolina flour in my larder, and its about to expire!
So might as well bake this gorgeous Semolina cake with Orange Syrup, which I adapted from BonAppetit webpage.

Second reason:-

I bought this Nordic ware bundt mould during its end of year sales.
A good excuse to put it to good use :).

How to Make Semolina Cake?

A complete instruction is in the recipe card below.

1) Make bay leaves syrup and set aside. 
Add in orange slices once this bay leaves syrup has cooled down.


2) Combine semolina flour, ground cardamom, baking powder, orange zest, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl



3) In another bowl, mix milk and yoghurt



4) Add dry ingredients to milk-yoghurt mixture



5) Add melted butter.
Mix well until all ingredients comes together.





6) Pour into the prepared mould.

Tips to have a delicious slice of Semolina Cake

1. Once bay leaves syrup cooled down, add in sliced oranges. We do not want 'cooked' orange slices.
2. Semolina cake can be made a day ahead.
3. Once cooled, poke holes all over with skewer, to let the syrup seeped in.
4. Serve with extra orange-bay leaves syrup and orange slices.

Can I substitute plain flour instead?

Yes, you can.
Then it will be just another orange butter cake :P

Citrus Cakes and Dessert that you may want to try....

• Lemon and Elderflower Cake
• Easy Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf
• Almond and Lemon Syrup Cake