Ravani

Okay, first of all, I promise that now that I am officially on summer vacation, I will be much better about updating you on all the great recipes I try out.  Second, even though I still feel like a walking zombie from the last week of school/ golf tournament/ everything else that is going crazy in my life, I simply could not wait any longer to share this recipe with you because it is easy and absolutely delicious.  And it's a dessert, and you know I am not a big sweets person, so when I say that, expect great things.

When you look at a picture of this ravani, you are probably not all that excited.  It isn't frosted (a cake without frosting!?) and it looks like your average yellow cake.  But average yellow cake it is not.  First difference: it is made with a mixture of regular flour and also semolina.  Semolina is the flour that you made pasta from, so I had some on hand.  Second difference: right when you take it out of the oven, you ladle over it a simple syrup made from water, sugar, honey, a few drops of lemon juice, and cinnamon sticks.  I can already tell you are starting to get more excited about this cake - I think that honey, lemon and cinnamon might be three of the best flavors to combine in a dessert!

The syrup keeps the cake really moist so it lasts much longer than a regular cake.  I will confess to eating it many days after I baked it for our Greek-themed diner (falafel, Greek salad, and this ravani).  It was just sweet enough, spongey light and spicy and delicious.  I will confess that we did not wait till the cake cooled to room temperature as the recipe suggests, and I think that was the right decision!

Recipes:

ravani
from Elly Says Opa

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fine semolina
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

for the syrup:
3 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 cinnamon sticks
a couple drops of lemon juice

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 425 and lightly grease a 13x9" pan.

2)  Combine the flour, semolina, and baking powder in a small bowl.

3) In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  Reduce the mixer speed and add eggs one at a time, beating after each until just incorporated.

4) Stir in the vanilla and begin adding the flour mixture a little at a time until just combined.

5) Pour into pan and smooth with a rubber spatula.  Bake for about 5 minutes, then lower the oven to 350 and bake until golden, about 30 minutes.

6)  While the cake bakes, place all the ingredients for the syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat, cover and simmer on low until the cake is ready.

7) Using a ladle, add the hot syrup to the cake a little at a time.  Set aside, cool to room temperature, and serve.