LOULLA’S KALON- PRAMA

KALON- PRAMA Semolina Cake no Eggs no Butter Samali also known as Kalon Prama in Cyprus is a Semolina cake with Yoghurt, steeped in syrup. It’s believed that the cake originated from Syria then went to Turkey, and the refuges from Smyrna once a Greek place, (now called Izmir) brought it to Greece. In days gone by there were street sellers selling Samali, known as Samalitzithes. They would go from street to street in Cyprus and Greece selling cake similar to our ice cream sellers today. The cake is also very popular made with eggs and sometimes mixed with flour and is called Ravani Makes 8 large pieces For the cake 250g plain yoghurt 150g caster sugar Grated zest of ½ orange 100 mils fresh orange juice or water 100ml vegetable oil 350g course semolina 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 tsp baking powder ½ tsp mastic-gum or 1 tsp vanilla extra For decoration Blanched peeled almonds Or chopped For Syrup 400g sugar 400ml water 1 cinnamon stick 2 tbsp. lemon juice Method Grease a baking dish 26 ½ x 21 ½ cm (10 ½ x 8 ½ inch) with oil and sprinkle with a little semolina. In a large bowl whisk together the oil, yoghurt, orange zest, orange juice and mastic -gum or vanilla extract. Start adding the semolina, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. When all combined pour into the prepared dish, and leave the cake to rest and develop for 30 minutes so the semolina will absorb the liquid. Preheat the oven to 170c 325f gas3. After 30 minutes arrange the almonds in 4 equal rows or just sprinkle chopped almonds. Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, check it after 25 minutes it may need turning to brown all over evenly. Check the cake is ready by inserting a fine skewer into the centre, if it comes out clear it is ready. While cake is cooking make the syrup, place all the ingredients together untill sugar dissolves and simmer for 8-10 minutes. When the cake is ready, spoon the warm syrup over the hot cake and allow the cake a few hours to soak up the syrup before slicing and serving.