Our family favourite dessert based on Bernard Loiseau's recipe: chilled French semolina caramel cake, served with crème anglaise vanilla sauce, nuts and berries. Pantry cooking comfort food. Also good for breakfast.
Cut the vanilla pod down the middle using a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds. In a large saucepan, boil the milk with the vanilla pod and its seeds (or powder/extract). Rain in the semolina and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until thickened for about 10 minutes. Add the sultana raisins.
In a large bowl, whisk together the 2 egg yolks with the sugar until light and creamy. Add the hot semolina to this mixture and whisk or stir until well combined. Set aside to cool and stir now and again to prevent a skin forming.
Caramel:
Meanwhile, prepare the caramel by placing the sugar and water in a saucepan over a medium heat. Once boiling, leave it to bubble without touching it and keep an eye on it for about 5 minutes. The caramel should turn brown and smell beautifully of caramel. Take it off the heat immediately and pour into the bottom of the mould.
Cook the Semolina Cake:
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6
Whisk the egg whites separately in another bowl using either an electric hand whisk or stand mixer. Stir into the semolina mixture until well combined.
Pour into the mould over the caramel and bake for 25-30 minutes, covered with aluminium. Leave to cool on the counter then upturn the mould on to a serving plate.
Notes
How to serve? Serve chilled with Crème Anglaise vanilla sauce and top with nuts, dried fruits or berries. Perfect for dessert but also good for breakfast.Orange or Lemon Semolina Cake: alternatively, grate in the zest of an unwaxed orange or lemon to replace the vanilla, adding to the milk at the beginning of cooking.
Keyword cheap family desserts, French dessert, pantry recipes, semolina pudding