Very airy and light, this coconut semolina cake, aka Greek Revani, is flavored with coconut and a hint of lemon and moistened with light sugar syrup. A truly scrumptious cake.
Table Of Contents
What Is Revani?
There are mainly two variations of Revani in Greece. One with coconut (Ravani Indokarido) and one without. The reason I love Coconut Revani is that it's even more fluffy and flavorful.
Revani, which is also called Ravani, is a traditional Greek cake with semolina and syrup. There are many similar cakes made all around Middle Eastern countries, with or without coconut. This semolina cake is also very similar to Basbousa; however, Coconut Ravani is much more airy and light.
Ingredients
- Butter: softened (at room temperature).
- Sugar
- Vanilla extract or one sachet Vanillina
- Lemon zest
- Milk: lukewarm, not too hot, not cold.
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Semolina: For this recipe, I'm using coarse semolina, which gives a crumblier texture; however, fine semolina works just fine here as well!
- Dessicated coconut (shredded)
- For the syrup: Sugar, water, lemon juice, and lemon peel.
Additional ingredients: For a stronger coconut flavor, you can mix some coconut extract into the syrup once cooked. Or some coconut liquor such as Batida de coco.
How To Make
To make a Coconut Semolina Cake, start by creaming the butter with sugar until very airy and fluffy. Then add eggs one by one. Don't overbeat. Just until each egg is incorporated.
Next, add the warm milk alternately with the flour. Lastly, mix in semolina and dessicated coconut using a pastry spatula.
Add cake batter to a 2-inch (31cm) round pan or use a square one of the same size. And bake for about 30 minutes.
The Syrup
There are 3 ways to soak a cake in syrup. One is hot cake hot syrup, the second is hot cake cold syrup, and the third is cold cake hot syrup. For this recipe, we do the hot cake hot syrup method.
Once the cake is baked, we leave it inside the oven to keep warm, with the oven door open (we don't want it to keep cooking), and begin to make the syrup.
To make the syrup, add sugar, water, lemon peel, and a small amount of lemon juice to a saucepan or small cooking pot. Bring to a boil and cook for 6 minutes on high from the moment it starts to bubble hard.
Avoid stirring from the moment it starts to boil, otherwise, sugar crystals might form.
TIP: You can make the syrup the day before, boil it for 5 minutes, then boil it for a minute more before adding it to the cake. This way, the syrup thickens properly.
To add the syrup to the cake, ladle slowly and don't pour it all at once. Giving it time to absorb evenly.
Finally, top with plenty of shredded coconut.
Cooling
Let the Semolina Coconut Cake cool inside the oven slowly and absorb the syrup (1-2 hours). Then take it out of the oven and let it reach room temperature. You can serve it as is or place it in the fridge for a couple of hours to serve cool.
Never refrigerate a syrupy dessert while it's still warm, though. The syrup might lose its consistency and turn sugary.
Serving
If you're a coconut lover, like I am, serve this delicious Coconut Revani with this very simple and speedy coconut ice cream! Or just serve it with some fresh strawberries on top or the side.
Recipe
Coconut Semolina Cake -Revani
Ingredients
For Coconut Semolina Cake:
- 200 grams (7 ounce) butter softened
- 200 grams ( 1 cup) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ lemon zested
- 5 medium-sized eggs
- 200 ml milk lukewarm
- 240 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 180 grams (1 cup) coarse semolina like this one
- 90 grams (1 cup) dessicated coconut
For The Syrup:
- 750 ml (3 cups) water
- 500 grams(2½ cups) sugar
- 1 lemon peel
- 2 tablespoons fresly squeezed lemon juice
To Coat On Top:
- desiccated coconut
Instructions
Make The Cake:
- Preheat oven to 175°C / 350°F.
- Combine flour with baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Cream butter with sugar using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment on. Beat for at least 10 minutes until very airy.
- Add the vanilla and lemon zest.
- Incorporate the eggs one at a time.
- Add the flour and milk alternately. Once fully incorporated, turn off the mixer.
- Stir in the semolina and desiccated coconut using a pastry spatula.
- Grease a 12-inch (31 cm) round baking pan with butter.
- Transfer the cake mixture to the pan and smooth its surface with a spoon.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes. Or until the cake turns honey-golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Leave the cake in the oven with the oven door open while you prepare the syrup.
Make The Syrup:
- Add all of the ingredients for the syrup in a large saucepan or small cooking pot.
- Bring to a boil over high heat. You may stir the syrup up to the point it starts to boil. From that moment on, stop stirring to prevent forming sugar crystals. Also make sure all utensils are clean and dry when making syrup.
- Boil the syrup for 6 minutes on high.
- Ladle the hot syrup over the cake slowly.
- Sprinkle plenty of dessicated coconut on top.
- Cool + Serve. Let the cake stand in the oven for 1-2 hours. Then let it reach room temperature and either cut and serve or refrigerate for 4-6 hours and serve it cold. It's delicious either way!
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