… so this is my final post celebrating the wonderful 1000 ways to LOVE your TOTAL and this has to be the favourite thing I made during my day cooking with Chef Paul Merrett last week… again, it’s one of those pudding/cakes that i’m so fond of and served warm with some melting yoghurt is the ideal way to eat it…
… on the day of our tutorial we made this cake first and in our eagerness to be the best we very nearly forgot the key ingredient… we were all staring at the mixture a little suspiciously thinking it looked rather thick and it wasn’t until the very last moment when I looked across our prep table to spy the tub of TOTAL Greek Yoghurt that we hadn’t yet included… it would have been a very dry cake without it and pretty much make the reason we were there quite pointless… how we chuckled…
semolina sponge cake with almonds, hazelnuts TOTAL Greek Yoghurt and honey
for the cake
120g TOTAL Greek Yoghurt
250g butter at room temp
190g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
50g self-raising flour
zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
100g ground almonds
100g ground hazelnuts
250g semolina
2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
for the syrup
juice of one orange and one lemon
175ml water
140g golden caster sugar
50g honey
1 tblsp orange blossom water
– pre heat the oven to 175C and grease and line a spring-form baking tin
– in a bowl use a wooden spoon to beat the sugar and butter to a pale and fluffy consistency
– add the eggs one at a time, beating them into the mixture fully each time
– add all the dry ingredients including the lemon and orange zest as well as the yoghurt and mix to a smooth batter
– pour into the tin and bake in the oven for 45 mins or until golden and risen
– once baked put the cake aside and make the syrup by placing all the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil – then allow the syrup to reduce by half
– using a skewer prick the cake all over and then pour the syrup onto the cake and set aside to let it soak up all those wonderful flavours
I hope you’ve enjoyed the three wonderful TOTAL Greek Yoghurt recipes over the last few days… I think that even being a hard-working blogger it is always a great thrill to be invited to these kind of events… you can sometimes forget how really special they are and I am more than happy to share what I learn with the lovely people who read my blog…
eat and of course, enjoy!
It does look good! I've put up a Paul Merrett post today too, oddly enough. Visit to his restau and video interview. 🙂 The cake looks GOOD.
That looks absolutely amazing and must taste similarly. Just fab to go with a mid morning cup of coffee I would think.
You're on a roll with the yogurt recipes dom! this looks like a great moist cake!
what a lovely recipe and a great day – I was sorry to miss it! Love greek yoghurt
Mmm lovely! I nearly made something similar to this for the last Forever Nigella but ran out of time 🙁
Your cake looks like a huge improvement upon my mental image of semolina – which goes back to the gloopy and tasteless “Semolina Pudding” we were occasionally given when I was at Boarding School!
Your tutorial with Paul Merrett seems to have been a really great opportunity. He comes over on the telly as a nice, jolly, down-to-earth bloke too. Is he like that in real life?
Thanks for sharing Dom. This does look lovely…a nice dense cake and I love poppy seeds.
Good thing you spied the yoghurt in time – that's hilarious!! Brilliant recipe – I love using yoghurts in bakes and will definitely be trying this soon. Sounds like a great day and you look fab as always! X
Bet thats ace with a cup of tea – on my list now. What size cake tin do you use?
What a fabulous cake, I tend to buy 0% fat Greek yoghurt (as though that makes a difference when I eat butter, cream & cheese morning, noon and night!) could I use it, or does the cake need a richer yoghurt?
I've used yogurt in cakes before and it truly does give it a wonderful moisture. I've loved all of these recipes, can't wait to try them!! Thanks, as always, for sharing!
(p.s..get on that plane, I won't start grilling until tomorrow later afternoon…you have plenty of time!!)
Yes. I had the same reaction but was very pleased with final result. Paul was lovely and very helpful
It was delicious. I think it was a 10 inch round but not sure.
Well I'm not sure. I don't see why not because it's not a huge amount and the cake ingredients are all there.
Your cake looks delicious and moist, I'll bet it was with the addition of the yogurt! I'm looking forward to trying this one!
And don't you look handsome and look like you're having fun with your gal-pals!
Ah, lovely post Dommers. So wish I could have a slice now, although I have brought all the ingredients so will be making it again very soon. Xxx
Yogurt adds such a delightful texture to cakes.
Oooh this looks a lovely cake, just my thing.
I love cakes with yoghurt in and will definitely be giving this one a try. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
What a great time you had !!
This is the perfect cake to highlight the yogurt. It looks so moist and delicious. What fun that must have been.
anything with orange flower water in it = win win win. I'll even let all the mentions of 'moistness' pass… almost (wince).
Yogurt is really one of the best additions to cake! I usually make a French yogurt cake with lots of stone fruit sunk in the batter–delicious. 🙂
Oh I can't get enough of that yoghurt, I'm having it with baked quinoa for breakers tomorrow, will check out your other recipes!
I love those sort of cakes too, it looks really delicious, like a lovely old fashioned seed cake but the yoghurt and syrup give it a modern makeover!
fabulous cake, i'm addicted to yougurt cakes so will surely be trying this
You are putting me to shame with your prolific postings!
Oh and you weren't meant to tell anyone about our oversight! x
I was waiting for this one…that citrus syrup sounds divine.
Great cake and you can't beat Total Greek Yoghurt. You must check out his fab pub restaurant in East Sheen, where we had a great meal – choose a sunny day though!
This looks like a gorgeous recipe! Have also recently followed you on twitter. Delicious, cant wait to try it. I love baking with polenta also 🙂 Look forward to seeing more of your fabulous recipes.
My friend, Deni makes a mega batch of cakes like this every Christmas, wraps them in cellophane,
ties them with colorful ribbons, and doles them out to her besties as little tea loaves … she guards the recipe (not really) and is known for the quality of her cakes … your cake looks a proper rival to Deni's version! Yum!
You have made another superb cake here, I love it! Greek yoghurt definitely is a flavour I love. Looks like you had a ball with the girls 🙂
Looks like a great day was had by all and your cake looks the business too! LOVE yoghurt when used in cakes and also love semolina in place of flour! You are looking very tanned and FIT in that photo too….Karen 🙂
Great cake Dom! I was thinking same as Karen – you have lost weight! You need to let me into your secret.
gawd bless you both… secret is that as you can see I am leaning forward… billowing T shirt hiding rolls of fat plus skinny arms = deceptive photo… JUST had haircut that morning so that always makes you look slim plus I have dodgy country suntan! but thanks x
Oh Dom .. It's been ages since I've had the chance to sit down and read anything on anyones blog. I've just got up extra early on a Sunday morning to read your lovely posts .. so I am sitting here in my night dress with a cup of tea … LOVING it.
x
Vanessa
This cake looks scrumptious, and so moist! I've never tried baking with semolina before… I'm intrigued!
Wow this looks delicious! I think I'll give it a go next week.