Arabic recipes
Sfouf: Lebanese Golden Turmeric & Semolina Cake with Pine Nuts
Sfouf is Lebanon's sunshine-yellow teatime cake, whisked together in one bowl from fine semolina, flour, ground turmeric, a whisper of anise and oil - naturally free from eggs and dairy. Baked in a tahini-brushed tin under pine nuts, it slices into tender, fragrant squares.
Also known as:Lebanese turmeric semolina cake (Sfouf)Eggless & dairy-free Middle Eastern semolina cakeGolden Beirut anise-turmeric traybake with pine nuts
Servings12
Prep time15 min
Cook time35 min
Ingredients
Add ingredients to cart- 300 g extra-fine semolina
- 150 g plain all-purpose flour
- 220 g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp finely ground turmeric + 1/2 tsp ground anise
- 1 level tbsp baking powder (10 g)
- 120 ml neutral sunflower oil + 300 ml lukewarm water (or cooled anise tea)
- 2 tbsp sesame tahini to coat the baking tin + 30 g pine nuts or white sesame seeds
Preparation Steps
- 1Heat the oven to 180 °C and brush the base and sides of a rectangular baking pan (about 22 × 30 cm) evenly with sesame tahini.
- 2Whisk the fine semolina, flour, ground turmeric, ground anise, baking powder and sugar together in a mixing bowl until uniformly pale yellow.
- 3Pour in the oil and lukewarm water (or steeped anise infusion) and whisk for 1 minute just until smooth and pourable.
- 4Scrape the batter into the tahini-lined tin, smooth the top and dot evenly with pine nuts or scatter with white sesame seeds.
- 5Bake on the middle rack for 30 to 35 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean; cool completely before cutting into neat squares or diamonds.
