Revani

Revani is a Turkish semolina cake, baked as a sponge and soaked in lemon syrup. It is one of the common cakes of Turkish home kitchens and pastry shops. Semolina cakes soaked in syrup are made across the eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans under different names, so the recipe and the name vary from place to place.

What it really is

Semolina is mixed with wheat flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder, oil and a little lemon juice to make a loose batter. The batter is baked in a shallow tin until it is golden and set. The cake is then soaked with a lemon syrup poured over it soon after baking, so the syrup sinks into the crumb. The texture is coarse and moist, with the grainy bite of the semolina and a sharp lemon sweetness.

Revani is a syrup cake, not a pudding. It is baked to be firm enough to hold its shape and soft enough to absorb the syrup. The syrup is what makes it moist, so a dry revani has been poorly soaked.

How it's served

• Cut into squares or diamonds, and served on a small plate or in a paper case.
• At room temperature, with the syrup still soaking through the crumb.
• Eaten with a fork, because the cake is wet and soft after soaking.

How to write it on the menu

• Name it as a semolina cake soaked in lemon syrup, so guests know what to expect.
• Flag wheat, since the cake contains both semolina and wheat flour.
• Flag eggs, which are part of the batter, and say that the cake is vegetarian.
• Say that the syrup is lemon and that the cake is sweet and very moist.