Mandel-Honig-Grieß-Kuchen (almond honey semolina cake)

Method

1. Grind the almonds finely in a food processor, in short pulses, stopping before they turn to paste; they should look like coarse sand.
2. Whisk the semolina, ground almonds, baking powder and salt together in one bowl.
3. Beat the eggs and sugar together until pale and roughly doubled in volume, about 3 minutes, then beat in the oil and vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients just until combined.
4. Pour into a greased and lined 24 cm round tin and bake at 175°C for 35 to 40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean and the top is deep golden brown.
5. Make the syrup while the cake bakes: bring the honey, water, lemon juice and cinnamon stick to a simmer, then simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and let the syrup cool to warm, not hot.
6. Pour the warm syrup evenly over the cake while it is still hot from the oven, straight in the tin, in a few additions so it has time to soak in rather than pooling on top.
7. Rest at least 20 minutes before turning out, so the syrup has time to spread through the crumb. It is very good slightly warm and just as good the next day.

Method in the Thermomix

Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers the almonds and the syrup; the baking itself happens in the oven regardless of method.

1. Almonds into the dry bowl. Grind 10 sec / speed 8, stopping before they turn oily and clump; scrape down and repeat in short bursts if needed.
2. Add the semolina, baking powder and salt. Mix 5 sec / speed 4, then tip out into a bowl.
3. Wash the bowl. Add the eggs and sugar. Whip 3 min / speed 4, until pale and roughly doubled. Add the oil and vanilla, then the almond mixture. Mix 10 sec / speed 3, just until combined.
4. Bake as in the hand method; the machine has no role once the batter is made.
5. For the syrup, combine honey, water, lemon juice and cinnamon stick in the clean bowl. Cook 5 min / 100 °C / speed 1, measuring cup off. Remove the cinnamon stick and let cool to warm before pouring over the cake.

Notes

• Freshly ground almonds are the whole point of this cake. Pre-ground almond meal from a packet has usually sat around long enough to lose much of the oil that carries its flavour; a food processor or the machine gets there in seconds.
• Pour the syrup on while the cake is hot and the syrup is warm. A cold cake absorbs syrup unevenly and mostly on the surface, leaving the crumb dry underneath.
• A slightly firmer bake is correct here, not a mistake. This cake is meant to absorb a significant amount of liquid afterwards; baked to the softness of a normal sponge, it turns soggy once the syrup goes in.
• It keeps for 5 days at room temperature, covered, and the flavour improves over the first day as the syrup finishes distributing through the crumb.

Ingredient substitutions

• Honey can be a mix of honey and sugar syrup for a less assertive flavour, or all sugar syrup for a plainer, less floral cake.
• Whole almonds can be swapped for whole hazelnuts, ground the same way, for a different but equally good version.
• Fine semolina is what gives this its characteristic texture; coarse semolina works but gives a grittier crumb.
• A splash of orange blossom water in the syrup, in place of some of the water, is a common and worthwhile variation if it is in the house.