Almond Cake With Saffron And Honey

Yield: 8 to 10 servings Total time: 2 hours

For the cake:

1⁄2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted, plus more for greasing the pan

1⁄2 cup fine semolina flour

3⁄4 cup sugar

1 cup finely ground blanched almonds, or substitute almond meal

1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of kosher salt

4 eggs, beaten

Zest of 1 orange

Zest of 1 lemon

1⁄2 teaspoon almond extract For the syrup:

1 cup orange juice

3⁄4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons honey

6 whole cloves

6 cardamom pods

1 (1-inch) piece cinnamon

stick

Pinch of crumbled saffron

(optional)

12 dried apricots, softened in

boiling water and drained 1

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch diameter cake pan and line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the semolina, sugar, almonds, baking powder and salt. Whisk in eggs and melted butter. Add the orange and lemon zests and almond extract and beat well. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 45 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Invert onto a wire rack and let cool.

As cake cools, make the syrup: Put orange juice, sugar, honey, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, saffron and apricots in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve sugar, and then simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Set aside. Transfer cake to a serving plate. Use a skewer to poke holes all over and slowly pour syrup evenly over cake. Once the syrup has cooled slightly, arrange the spices and apricots on top of the cake to your liking. Leave cake for at least an hour to fully absorb syrup, or, if possible, wrap and store in a cool place (don’t refrigerate) for up to 5 days.