Recipe: Orange Cake (Revani)

Just found another of my mother’s recipes – an aromatic sponge cake that is steeped in orange syrup. This one is a classic Eastern Mediterranean sweet cake called “revani” or “ravani” in Greek or “rebane” in Turkish. it’s also very popular in Egypt and Yemen.

While in Greece, it’s served with a smashed pistachio meat or smashed almond meat topping. In Egypt, it’s served with grated, unsweetened, desiccated coconut meat. In Yemen, it’s sprinkled with poppy seeds, and in Turkey, it’s topped with kaymak – a double-condensed clotted cream.

The name’s origin is Ottoman, and I believe it means “syrupy.”   

Syrup Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water at room temperature
1 cup orange juice at room temperature
Juice of half a lemon
3 teaspoons grated or slivered orange peel

Cake Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs at room temperature.
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (you can use any kind of neutral oil for the cake, including vegetable, grapeseed, canola, or sunflower oil. Even though in the Greek Islands, olive oil is used, avoid it as, it will make the cake greasy and heavy.)
• 1 cup plain yogurt (whole milk or low-fat, but avoid nondairy yogurt)
• 1-1/4 cup fine semolina flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (don’t substitute whole wheat or any other kind of flour)
• 2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Optional toppings: 1/2 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut or 1/4 cup smashed pistachio meat or almond meat or poppy-seeds, sprinkled over the cake before slicing. Alternatively, add 1 tablespoon of kaymak per slice.

Method

1. Start by making the syrup. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat to medium, and add the orange and lemon juices and grated orange peel. Simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat, and let the syrup cool completely. Then, remove the grated peel with a slotted spoon or strainer.
4. Preheat the oven to 350⁰ F, and line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper.
5. Beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer or a whisk for about 5 minutes. The mixture should become fluffy and light in color.
6. Add the vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and yogurt to the egg and sugar mixture, and mix to combine.
7. Add the semolina, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
8. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top using a spatula. Thump the pan a couple of times on the counter to release possible air bubbles.
9. Bake the cake in the oven for 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Remove the cake from the oven, and let it cool for 5 minutes.
11. Slice it into 12 diamond-shaped pieces, but leave the pieces in the pan. Then, using a ladle, pour the cool syrup all over the cake.
12. Let the cake sit for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature.
13. Gently take the slices out of the pan with a spatula, and place them on a serving platter. Add your chosen topping.

Very important to use cool syrup: You need to make sure that the syrup is completely cool before pouring it onto the cake. The warm cake and cold syrup is the key to a moist and fluffy revani cake. You can make the syrup up to 2 days in advance.

Lining the baking pan: To easily line the pan, first coat it with cooking spray. Then, line it with parchment paper. You don’t need to line the sides of the pan – just the bottom.

Store leftovers in an airtight container, and refrigerate it for up to 5 days. Serve at room temperature. Freezing this cake is not recommended, since the slices will dry up, and the texture won’t be the same.

Kaymak is quite difficult to find unless you live in an area with a large Turkish population. Turkish patisseries most commonly carry Kaymak, and groceries that cater to a Turkish or Arabic community might also have it.