Revani

                               

I loved my family summer holidays when I was growing up. For many years we went to Greece and I have really happy memories from these holidays - we all learnt to waterski, I began scuba diving and we experienced a large earthquake! Greece is such a beautiful country, with some amazing food. So this week I decided to make a Greek cake called Revani. This is a moist and delicious semolina cake flavoured with orange and sweetened with a syrup flavoured with lemon and vanilla pods. 

To make the cake you will need to following ingredients:

5 eggs, separated 

100g caster sugar

50g plain sugar

100g  semolina

pinch of salt

1 orange, zest

50g unsalted butter, melted

50g no-peel marmalade 

For the syrup:

250g caster sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 lemon, zest

vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 24cm spring form cake tin and line the sides and base with baking parchment. 

2. Beat the egg yolks and caster sugar in a mixer until light and creamy. While the machine is running on a low speed, add the flour & semolina followed by the salt, orange zest, melted butter and marmalade. Beat until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks and gently fold into the batter in 3 additions being careful not to knock the air out. 

4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. 

5. While the cake is in the oven, prepare the syrup - put all of the ingredients, including the vanilla pods, in a small saucepan with 300 ml water and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat and summer gently for 10 mins. The syrup will thicken slightly but won't be very thick. Leave to cool slightly. 

                     

6. While the cake is still warm and in its tin, cut into triangles. Strain the syrup, removing the vanilla pods, and slowly pour over the cake. 

7. Leave to cool and serve with Greek yoghurt and chopped pistachios. 

The photos do not do this cake justice at all! It was beautifully moist and sticky from the sweet syrup with a subtle orange flavour from the cake. I loved the texture of the semolina, it's so different to a fluffy flour cake. It's amazing how smells or tastes can remind you of happy memories. I'm positive they served this desert in the hotel restaurant all those years ago because the taste was very familiar and immediately transported me back to my Greek holidays.

I asked two of my Greek friends if they would like to try it and give me their opinion, since they know what real Greek Revani should taste like. I was a little nervous but they loved it and said it was exactly how it should be! So it was a successful first attempt at Greek baking - my next challenge will be to make baklava. 

Hannah xx