Samali cake

Semolina cake with Mastic is a very popular Greek syrup dessert.
The lovely aroma of mastic and rosewater scented syrup doesn't only make it taste great but it also gives the dessert a delicious smell.

The special thing about this cake is that it is made with semolina instead of flour. This makes the texture so unique. Another tip to make the texture more fluffy and moist is to swap out the milk with Greek yogurt
In order to make the cake you need freshly ground mastic, which originally comes from Chios Island
Other ingredients you need for your delicious Semolina cake are:
... 2 and 1/2 cups of semolina
... 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar
... 1 and 1/2 cups of Greek yogurt
... 1tsp baking powder
... 1tsp baking soda
... 1/2tsp ground mastic
... 3-4tbsps melted butter
... and if you like, some almonds to garnish the cake.

For the syrup...
...2 and1/2 cups of sugar
...1 and 1/2 cups of water
...1 lemon
...and 1/2tsp of rose water
...are essential.

The first step is to ground the mastic and mix it with a little bit of sugar
After that add some baking soda to the Greek yogurt.
In another bowl combine the semolina, sugar, ground mastic and baking powder. Add the yogurt mixture and whisk until all ingredients are smoothly combined.
Grease the baking sheet before pouring in the cake mixture. Cover the cake and let it rest for around 3hours.
Before putting the cake into the oven at 180c for 35 to 40min, garnish it with the blanched almonds.
While waiting for the cake to get a nice brown baked color you can start preparing the syrup. Add all the ingredients into a pot and let it boil for 2-3 min. When the syrup has thickened set it aside to cool down.
When the cake is finished brush it with melted butter before pouring the cold syrup over it so that the cake can absorb it.
I hope you enjoyed this typical Greek dessert!