Syrian lemon cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 325 g sugar
• 5 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp orange blossom water
• 60 g butter
• 200 g semolina (durum wheat semolina)
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp lemon(s), grated peel
• 300 g yogurt (cream yogurt)
• Almond(s), peeled
• Butter for the mold

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

For the syrup, bring 150g of sugar to a boil with 300ml of water and the lemon juice, stirring continuously. Boil over high heat for about 10 minutes, until the sugar solution thickens. Remove the syrup from the heat and set aside. Preheat the oven to 175°C (160°C fan/convection oven). Melt the butter and let it cool to lukewarm. In a bowl, mix the semolina with the baking powder and 175g of sugar, add the lemon zest, and stir in the melted butter and yogurt. Grease a shallow baking dish (25cm x 25cm) well with butter. Pour in the semolina batter and smooth the surface. Place the dish in the oven and pre-bake the semolina batter for 15 minutes. Halve the almonds and spread them evenly over the surface of the batter. Bake the cake for another 40-50 minutes, until the surface is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and cut the cake into rectangles. Mix the cooled syrup with the orange blossom water and drizzle evenly over the cake. Let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour. Tip: For an orange cake, simply swap the lemon juice for freshly squeezed orange juice and the lemon zest for orange zest.