A very popular cake in Sri Lanka, though no one knows
why it is called love cake. There are many recipes, some using butter
while others do not, some insisting that only egg yolks should be used and
others including the egg whites as well.
Ingredients : Oven
temperature : 150oC (300oF); Baking time : about 1 hour
7
500 g
250 g
375 g
2
tablespoons
2
tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon
Eggs, separated
Caster sugar
Semolina
Raw cashews, finely chopped
Rose water
Honey
Finely grated lemon rind
Ground mace or nutmeg
Ground cardamom
Almond essence, optional
Method :
Grease and
line a 20 cm square tin with 2 thicknesses of greaseproof paper.
Brush inner
paper with melted butter.
Beat the egg
yolks and caster sugar until light and creamy.
Stir in the
semolina, cashews, rose water, honey, lemon rind, spices and almond
essence.
Beat egg
whites until they hold firm peaks and fold into the mixture, turn into
prepared tin and bake in moderately slow oven until cake is evenly
golden brown on top and feels firm to the touch.
If cake
starts to brown too quickly, cover top with paper or foil.
When cooked
the center of the cake should still be somewhat moist so the skewer test
is not recommended.
Remove from
oven and leave in the tin to get quite cold before cutting.
Do not
attempt to turn out this cake.
Cut into
small squares and lift each one separately on to serving plate.