This cake is called sfoof, or sfouf, depending on where you live. It’s a Lebanese cake, and is ridiculously easy to make. I am no baker. I love cooking, but baking is not really my thing. I think its the requirement for precision that gets me. Anyway, I’ve made this cake twice in the last week. It’s delicious and easy and if anyone ever wants a birthday cake from me ever again, they can get sfoofed.

Here is my recipe – its a mash up of a few different recipes I found.

Ingredients 

• 1 1/2 cups semolina flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of ground star anise
• 1 tablespoon of orange blossom water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1  cups white sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (most recipes say pine nuts or almonds but I had neither so sesame seeds it was!)
• Tahini for greasing the pan

Method

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease a 20cm round baking pan with tahini.
• In a small bowl, mix semolina, flour, turmeric, ground star anise and baking powder. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, stir milk and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
• Add flour mixture and oil and beat with an electric beater at medium speed for 5 minutes.
• Pour into a prepared round pan. Sprinkle top with pine nuts/sesame seeds/almonds. Bake at 175 degrees C for 25 to 35 minutes, or until skewer inserted in center comes out dry.

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Do you want to know how to grow turmeric? We wrote about it here!

Or perhaps you would prefer to dye with it? Check out our DIY here.