Lebanese Farina Cake A Follow Up to a Holiday Blog
Back in December, I had a blog post that offered up some of the items I was being forced to eat in order to keep peace at home. One of the pastries got me some side emails. I had been after my wife for some time to allow me to post the sacred family recipe that had been handed down for at least a few years from one family member to another. I pass it along to my ActiveRain audience
Lebanese Farina Cake
1 stick unsalted margarine or butter
½ cup sugar
2 cups cream of wheat or farina
½ tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
2 heaping tsp baking powder
1 lb ricotta cheese
whole almonds for decoration
In a large bowl, melt margarine (microwave), add sugar and mix well. Add cream of wheat and mix until crumbly. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, milk and mix well. The mixture may be somewhat soupy, and will become fluffy as the baking powder is added.
Spread a thin layer of mixture into a 9x9 pan and carefully spoon the ricotta evenly over the mixture, then spread the remaining mixture over the ricotta smoothing with wet fingers. Place almonds one inch apart.
Bake at 325o for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown. While the cake is hot, cut into squares with a serrated edged knife and pour the hot syrup over the cake. The farina cake can be enjoyed hot when cooled.
Syrup:
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cups water
1 Tbs lemon juice
Boil 10 minutes. Be careful to not overcook or the syrup will be too thin.
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