SFOUF IS A TRADITIONAL LEBANESE DESSERTS, AND GOING BY ITS INGREDIENTS, AN AYURVEDIC ONE TOO! A MOIST CAKE CHARACTERIZED BY ITS TURMERIC COLOR, IT IS MADE BY MIXING SEMOLINA, FLOUR, OIL, SUGAR, ANISEED — AND TURMERIC — TOGETHER IN A BOWL, POURING THE BATTER IN A CAKE PAN, AND GARNISHING WITH SLICES OF BLANCHED ALMONDS BEFORE BAKING (I USED PINE NUTS FOR A MORE EARTHY TASTE). IT’S LIGHT, JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF SWEET, AND PACKED WITH NUTRIENTS TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups boiling water
- 2 TB aniseed
- 2 cups fine semolina flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 2 TB Elemental Alchemy’s Spiced Golden Milk, or turmeric powder
- 1 TB finely ground aniseed (you can use a spice grinder)
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 cup canola oil (or vegetable oil)
- 2 TB Tahini (sesame paste)
- Blanched Almonds, halved (for decoration – you can substitute with pine nuts or 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Boil water then add the aniseed and let steep for 10 minutes.
- Strain tea and put aside to cool a little bit.
- Preheat oven to 355ºF
- In a large bowl, mix the fine semolina, flour, turmeric powder, ground aniseed, and baking powder.
- Add the sugar to the tea until dissolved.
- Add oil and tea/sugar mixture to the dry ingredients, then mix well. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Cover the bottom and sides of an 11 inch round pan (or a rectangular pan) with Tahini.
- Decorate with blanched almonds, pine nuts or sesame seeds
- Bake for 40 min, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 30 min then invert on a wire rack.
- Cut into square or diamond shapes and enjoy!
The cake is traditionally cut into squares or diamond shapes in the baking pan, that’s why it is called Sfouf, meaning “Rows” in Arabic.
