Orange Semolina Cake

This quick & easy orange semolina cake recipe is oven-ready in just 15 minutes and it produces an impressive bake. The cake is full of flavour, deliciously moist and it comes topped with zesty orange and mint drizzle. This is the easiest semolina flour cake you could wish for.

This recipe was first published in May 2020 and updated with step-by-step instructions, tips and frequently asked questions in June 2021.

I’m going to be honest, when I first made this orange semolina cake recipe, I wasn’t sure it had worked. That’s perhaps because I didn’t know what to expect from a semolina cake.

Though initially stunned by its relatively flat and unassuming appearance, I was soon won over once I sliced into it. Slim, though it is, this cake with semolina and orange is bursting with flavour, texture and deliciousness.

And since this orange semolina cake uses just one egg and doesn’t require any standard plain flour, it’s a great recipe to have to hand when a baking urge hits but the pantry baking shelf is looking somewhat depleted.

Why make a cake with semolina?

This orange semolina cake is of very humble origin. Ingredients are simple and, if I dare admit it, rather unglamorous. But they are also likely to be knocking around a reasonably well-stocked kitchen and they do combine to create a fantastic cake that is:

• delicately sweet
• moist
• with a tender crumb
• bursting with citrus flavour
• naturally colourful
• slightly chewy (that’s the semolina effect)
• and slightly crunchy (that’s the drizzle topping)

Aside from all of these tempting features, this semolina orange cake is equally delicious served just as it is alongside a cup of tea or turned into a swoon-worthy dessert when topped with chantilly cream. The latter option is my preference to serve with this orange and semolina cake – especially when orange zest has been folded into the cream.

If you are into drizzle cakes take a look at my lemon drizzle bundt cake and my lime drizzle loaf too. And if you like desserts with more unusual ingredients try my delicious Buxton pudding – it involves breadcrumbs.

What is Semolina?

To make this orange cake with semolina I’ve used a mixture of semolina and ground almonds in place of regular plain (all-purpose) flour.

Semolina is ground durum wheat. It is coarser than typical flour and normally looks golden yellow. It is available in both fine and coarse grind and can usually be found in the baking aisle of supermarkets.

The most common uses for semolina is in the making of pasta and couscous since it is very high in gluten and keeps its shape extremely well during cooking. But semolina can be used to bake cakes and breads too with great success – this orange semolina cake is a prime example.

Ingredients notes

For this semolina flour cake recipe ensure that you select coarse ground durum wheat semolina.

Just occasionally, you might stumble across rice semolina or corn semolina. These are not truly semolina, and should be not be used for this recipe. They have been given the semolina name tag since they are coarse-grained like semolina but cannot be relied upon to act the same way as the real thing during baking.

I’ve added a boost to the orange drizzle by including a little lemon juice, but it can be made entirely with orange if preferred. This easy semolina cake can also be adapted to become a lemon cake by substituting all of the orange juice and zest in the recipe for lemon instead.

Since I have herbs growing in my garden, I included a gentle hint of mint in the drizzle topping. Feel free to replace with rosemary or thyme, or leave out the herb altogether.

Step by Step Instructions

This orange cake with semolina might just be the easiest bake I’ve ever created. It can be in the oven in less than 15 minutes and requires just a couple of bowls and a balloon whisk for mixing:

1. Put the dry ingredients into a medium bowl and stir with a balloon whisk.
2. In a small bowl mix together the yoghurt, egg and milk.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients & mix until smooth.
4. Whisk in orange juice & zest.

5. Next whisk in the melted butter until well combined.
6. Pour into a prepared tin & bake in a preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until the top is dark golden in colour.
7. As the cake approaches the end of its cooking time, mix the orange and lemon juice together and blitz the mint leaves in, using a stick blender, until they are finely broken down. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, add the sugar to the juice, stirring only briefly.
8. Poke holes all over the cake using a cocktail stick and spoon the drizzle topping evenly over the cake and leave to cool completely in the baking tin.

Expert Tips

• Use digital scales for this recipe as they are so much more accurate than the cup system. Cups are notoriously inaccurate because they can vary in size and one person’s method of filling a cup can be quite different to another person’s.
• The drizzle topping must be poured over the semolina cake as soon as possible once it comes out of the oven so that it is absorbed well by the cake. Make sure you prepare the citrus juice and mint so that all you have to do once the cake comes out of the oven is stir in the sugar, poke holes in the cake and pour the drizzle over.
• When making the drizzle don’t be tempted to swap granulated sugar for caster sugar. The coarser texture of granulated sugar is what helps give the drizzle that lovely crunch that we all appreciate.
• Likewise, resist the urge to stir the drizzle topping too much as this will encourage the sugar to dissolve, which is not what we want to do.
• Let the cake cool completely before slicing.
• Try serving a spoonful of Greek yoghurt alongside this orange cake with semolina for a tangy alternative to the chantilly cream already suggested.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Recipes Featuring Orange

Have you made this easy orange semolina cake? I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know how you got along by leaving a comment or rating below – it would mean so much to me if you do. You can also show me your creation on Instagram by tagging me @jane_littlesugarsnaps.

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