Almond Namoura / Veeveekum / Rava Cake

Namoura is a Lebanese semolina cake. There are many versions of the cake. This time I have added almond paste for more taste.

Namoura is also known as veeveekum (rava cake) in our home. This is also our traditional recipe. My Grandmother used to make this. In those days when there were no oven (OTG) at home, she used to prepare the batter and give it to the bakery shop and get it baked.

Almond Namoura / Veeveekum / rava cake

Ingredients

No. of Pieces : 16

For the namoura

Semolina / Rava - 2 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Ghee - 3 tbsp

Curd / Yogurt - 1 cup (fresh and thick)

Baking powder - 3/4 tsp

Almond paste - 4 tbsp

Milk - 1/4 cup

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Almond

Salt a pinch

For the sugar syrup

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp

Preparation Method

For the namoura

1. Powder the sugar.

2. In a mixing bowl combine semolina / rava, baking powder, salt, ghee and powdered sugar and mix well.

3. Blanch and grind the almond with milk to form a thick paste.

4. Add almond paste, curd and vanilla essence to the semolina and mix well.

5. Let this mixture rest for at least 1 hr.

6. Preheat OTG at 180 degrees in mode 'toast' for 10 minutes.

7. Grease a 7" square baking tray with ghee.

8. Spoon the namoura mixture into the tray. Pat it level. Cut into squares with a knife dipped in water. We have to do this because if we cut it after the cake is baked it will crumble apart. Place a almond on top of each square and press it down a little.

9. Add little ghee on top of each almond.

10. Bake it in a preheated OTG for 25 - 30 minutes at 180 degrees in mode 'bake'.

11. Check to see if the cake is gone after 25 minutes. Take a skewer and insert into the centre of the cake all the way down till the bottom. If the skewer comes out clean then the cake is cooked. Time taken for the cake to bake depends on the oven you use, so check to see if the cake is done after 25 minutes.

For the Sugar syrup

1. Heat a pan with sugar and water, bring it to a boil.

2. Lower the flame to medium and let it boil for 5 minutes. Stir it occasionally.

3. Turn off the flame and add vanilla essence.

4. Let the cake and sugar syrup cool down a little but it has to be still warm.

5. Pour the syrup over the cake.

6. The namoura tastes better when the served after at least 2 hrs.

Notes:

• When pouring the sugar syrup over the namoura, both namoura and the syrup must be at the same temperature and not very hot. Doing so, the syrup got absorbed well into the cake.

• I tasted the namoura immediately and then came back for a second serving after 2 hrs and I liked the taste of the namoura which rested for 2 hrs.

• I refrigerated the remaining and had it the next day. I tasted one piece cold and another piece I warmed it a little in the microwave. The warm piece tasted very yummy. So you can refrigerate the remaining and warm it up when serving.