Revani (Sweet made with semolina)

Ingredients

• 10 eggs
• For the syrup: 1 kg sugar, 4 cups water, Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup sugar (100 g)
• 5 tablespoons fine semolina
• 1.75 cups flour (200 g)
• 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 150 g butter
• 250 g kaymak (clotted cream)
• Ground pistachio nuts

Directions

(Serves 10-15)

Place the ingridients of the syrup in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2 minutes then remove from the heat and leave to cool. Sieve the flour into a bowl and mix in the semolina. Melt the butter and use a little to grease a large 30 cm baking tin (or two small tins). Flour the baking tin lightly. Warm up the remaining butter again.

Place the sugar, egges and vanilla in a bowl, and stand the bowl in a larger basin of boiling water. Beat with an electric hand mixer for 10 minutes, moving the beaters all around the bowl. When the mixture becomes frothy remove the bowl from the hot water and continue to beat (this produces the delicious smooth finished texture).

Sprinkle in the flour and semolina mixture a little at a time, stirring in by hand thoroughly after each addition. Add the warm melted butter (but not the sediment) and stir in. Pour the mixture into the baking tin and spread evenly. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 225 degrees Centigrade for approximately 25 minutes. If you need to open the oven door while cooking, open the oven door as little as possible and close slowly, otherwise the revani will fail to raise. If a cocktail stick comes out clean when picked into the cake it is ready. Continue to bake until the top is golden brown and remove from the oven.

Pour 3 ladlefuls of hot water over, then all the cold syrup. Replace in the oven (which should be off but still hot) for half a minute. When cool cut into squares and garnish with clotted cream and ground pistachio nuts.