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overhead photo of baked namoura sprinkled with rose petals and served with coffee

Namoura (Lebanese Semolina Cake)

Robyn
This soft, melt in the mouth Namoura - Lebanese semolina cake - is a wonderful soft semolina sponge soaked in rose water syrup. Perfect with strong coffee, or served with a scoop of ice cream for dessert.
5 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Course baking, Dessert
Cuisine Lebanese
Servings 8 People
Calories 331 kcal

Equipment

  • 20cm x 20cm (8 inch x 8 inch) square baking tin

Ingredients
  

Syrup

  • 160g (⅔ c) Caster sugar
  • 75ml (⅓ c) water
  • ½ tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon orange blossom water or ½ teaspoon rose water.

Cake

  • 180g (1 c) semolina
  • 110g (½ c) butter
  • 110g (½ c) white sugar / granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste / vanilla extract
  • 180g (¾ c) plain Greek yogurt
  • 8- 12 blanched almonds for decoration

Instructions
 

  • Line a 20cm x 20cm (8 inch x 8 inch) square baking tin with baking paper.
  • Preheat the oven to 180˚C fan / 200˚C / 356˚F convection / 390˚F.

Make the syrup

  • In a small-medium saucepan combine the caster sugar, lemon juice and water and place on a medium heat, stirring every so often until the sugar dissolves.
  • Turn the heat up slightly and bring to a simmer. Simmer for around 10 minutes, until thickened and syrupy. Remove from the heat, add the orange blossom water and leave to cool in the pan while you prepare the cake batter.

Make the cake batter

  • Melt the butter, either in a small saucepan or in the microwave.
  • In a large mixing bowl combine the semolina, baking powder, white / granulated sugar, vanilla and yogurt, then mix in the melted butter.
  • Stir well to combine then pour in to the lined tin.
  • Smooth the batter to the edges of the tin and flatten the top with the back of a spoon. Lightly cut in to diamond shapes, then place a blanched almond in to the centre of each diamond.
  • Place into the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
  • When the cake is golden, take out of the oven and spoon the cold syrup all over the top, then return to the oven for another 2 minutes.
  • Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin.
  • Keeps in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
  • Enjoy on its own or serve with a dollop of yogurt or whipped cream, and coffee.

Notes

You can cut the cake into smaller pieces and serve 12-16 people, this size is especially good when serving as a small dessert or sweet treat with coffee.
Semolina – ground durum wheat. You can buy coarse semolina and fine semolina. Use coarse to make Lebanese namoura. In Australia use semolina and not semolina flour.
Baking powder – to provide that lift to make a light cake.
Yogurt – plain unsweetened yogurt. I like to use full fat Greek yogurt for flavour but you can use regular plain yogurt. Full fat is best for flavour and texture of the cake.
Butter – unsalted butter. This adds a rich flavour to the cake so I recommend you use butter rather than margarine. The butter is melted before being added to the cake batter so no need for room temperature butter.
Sugar – white sugar – granulated sugar is used for the cake, and caster sugar is used to make the syrup.
Vanilla – vanilla bean pasta or extract.
Blanched almonds – used to decorate the Namoura. You can use slivered almonds instead.
Orange blossom water – orange flower water. This floral water is made from orange blossoms and is use in Middle Eastern cooking in both sweet and savoury dishes. As with rose water, a little orange blossom water goes a long way and if you add too much it can make dishes taste soapy.
Lemon juice – adds a slight sharpness to the flavoured syrup to balance the sweet rose water. To use up the rest of the lemon, add to a lemon chicken traybake or use in tuna pesto pasta.
Don’t over-bake the cake as this can cause the Namoura to become hard. If the cake has been in the oven for 20 minutes but isn’t golden on top, insert a skewer in the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean the cake is cooked.
Don’t be tempted to make less sugar syrup or skip it altogether, it is what makes this cake so special! And the quantity of syrup is just right for the cake.

Nutrition

Calories: 331kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 4gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 153mgPotassium: 89mgFiber: 1gSugar: 35gVitamin A: 366IUVitamin C: 0.5mgCalcium: 67mgIron: 1mg
Keyword Lebanese cake, Namoura, semolina cake

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