Ravani – Revani: semolina sponge cake with syrup

I have been invited to lunch and the hostess asked me to prepare something sweet for the conclusion.

A good friend was telling me a few days ago about “ravani” or “revani”, a semolina sponge cake dressed in syrup.

All of a sudden, the decision was made: Ravani for desert!!!!!

Ravani is the name we use in the south of Greece. The same cake is called revani in the north, and this is the name used in Tukey.

However, one should not hasten to add “country” labels to a cake that belongs to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.

The cake in Egypt comes with the name “Basbousa”. From Egypt it has travelled west, so we find it in Lybia, and other countries in North Africa.

A well-travelled cake by necessity comes with many variations.

I chose to prepare the variation that is popular in the northern Greek Town of Veroia.

Ingredients

3 eggs

150 grams of sour sheep’s yogurt

325 grams of white flour

150 grams of semolina

100 grams of sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

vanilla to your taste

For the syrup 

3 cups of water

3 cups of sugar

Notes:

1. I do not like the cake to be very sweet, so I did not use all the sugar, both in the cake and in the syrup.

2. I love pomegrenate, so I added some juice.

Preparation

Prepare the syrup and let it relax for 30 minutes.

Mix all the dry indredients by hand.

Mix the eggs, the yogurt and the pomegrenate juice until you have a uniform mix.

Bring the two mixew together and work them by hand until you have a sticky but semi-liquid mix.

Preheat a (add some butter so that it does not stick) baking tray in 180 degrees Celcius.

Place the mix in the hot tray and spread it evenly.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Cut in pieces and pour over the (cold) syrup.

Let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!!!