Zohar Cake by Helen Graham

From Helen Graham’s Book Centrepiece

Image by: Yuki Sugiura

We’re very happy to be sharing something from our friend Helen Graham’s new book, Centrepiece. It’s full to the brim with amazing recipes that really give vegetables the attention they deserve, showing that they truly can be the centrepiece.

Get yourself a copy of the book here: BUY BOOK

Zohar Cake Recipe

"I met Tomer Hauptman in 2014 at my first chef’s job at The Palomar. He went on to run a vegetarian pop-up focused on dreamy, freshly made hummus, with the most amazing cake for dessert, which was the last thing I ate at a restaurant before lockdown. I couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards. It’s the perfect marriage of a lemon drizzle and basbousa, an Arabic semolina cake soaked in syrup. The recipe came with just one caveat: you don’t mess with the zohar. So here it is, as Tomer intended."

Serves 8

Can be made vegan

Ingredients

120ml (4fl oz) olive oil, plus more for the tin (Helen uses Honest toil)
120g (4¼oz) fine semolina
40g (1½oz) plain flour
40g (1½oz) ground almonds
170g (6oz) caster sugar
¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed orange
finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
120ml (4fl oz) milk, or vegan alternative
120g (4¼oz) yogurt, or vegan alternative
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

For the citrus syrup

80ml (2¾fl oz) orange juice (1 orange)
4 tablespoons lemon juice (1 lemon)
100g (3½oz) caster sugar
½ teaspoon orange blossom water

Method

Preheat the oven to 175°C fan (380°F), Gas Mark 5. Oil a 24cm (9½ inch) springform cake tin and line with nonstick baking paper.

Put the semolina in a medium-sized bowl with the flour, ground almonds, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and zests and whisk thoroughly to combine.

Put the 120ml (4fl oz) of oil in a separate large bowl with the milk, yogurt and vinegar and whisk thoroughly so that there are no lumps. Add the dry mixture to the wet and whisk only until combined; over-whisking could toughen the crumb. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin.

Bake for 30–35 minutes until golden and a knife comes out clean once inserted.

Meanwhile, combine the juices and sugar for the syrup in a small saucepan and set over a medium heat, simmer for 7–8 minutes until you have an amber-coloured syrup. You can test the consistency by spooning a little on to a plate and dragging your finger through it; if it doesn’t run back, it’s ready. Turn off the heat and stir in the orange blossom water.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, evenly pour over the syrup and let it cool completely before removing from the tin and slicing.

How to serve

This is lovely served with ice cream or sorbet: vanilla would be lovely, pistachio sublime, almond even better. Or, quite simply, just serve with yogurt or crème fraîche, or a vegan alternative.

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