Lemon paste is the key ingredient in making this rich lemony flavored semolina cake. I have included the link on preparing the recipe from a previous blog post. It freezes well and is great to have on hand when making lemon flavored desserts.
Don’t have lemon paste on hand, or you would rather have an orange flavored cake, no problem. You can substitute orange marmalade for the lemon paste and orange zest for the lemon zest and make an orange semolina cake. For the glaze, swap out orange zest for the lemon zest and orange flavoring instead of lemon.
Folding whipped cream at the end is a bit unorthodox but makes for a moister cake. Be sure to blend it in thoroughly. Serve this cake with a side of pistachio ice cream for a winning combination.
Lemon Semolina Olive Oil Cake
Difficulty Rating: Easy
Makes 10 servings.
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup semolina flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup lemon paste or lemon marmalade
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup milk, at room temperature
3/4 cup light olive oil
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
For the Glaze:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tablespoons lemon paste or 1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon lemon flavoring
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan with butter. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, semolina, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
Using a large mixer bowl, cream the sugar and eggs on medium speed until thick, fluffy, and light yellow in color, about 8 minutes.
Reduce the speed to low and add the lemon paste, zest, and juice and continue beating or 1 minute until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. With the mixer still running on low, gradually add in the milk and then the oil.
Mix in the flour mixture and continue beating until just combined.
Fold in the whipped cream with a spatula until thoroughly incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove the cake from the oven, place on a baking rack, and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and turn out onto the rack to continue cooling. For the glaze, place the sugar, lemon paste and zest in a small bowl until smooth and spread onto cooled cake.
