Sugee Cake

(Recipe for one 18 x 5 cm cake)

Ingredients:
165 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
35 g castor sugar
1 tsp golden syrup
2 tsp brandy
60 g semolina (spread thinly on baking tray lined with aluminium foil; bake 10 minutes at 180°C; stir thoroughly; continue baking till light brown and fragrant, another 5 minutes or so; leave till cool)
80 g yolks
35 g castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
60 g almonds (bake at 180°C till brown and fragrant, 6-8 mins; chop roughly when cool; grind till fine)
20 g cake flour
1/6 tsp baking soda
80 g egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
35 g castor sugar

Method:

1. Whisk 165 g butter and 35 g sugar till thick and pale. Add 1 tsp golden syrup and 2 tsp brandy. Mix till combined. Add baked semolina. Mix thoroughly. Set aside till semolina is soft, about 1 hour, in air-conditioned comfort if weather is unusually hot. 
2. Preheat oven to 170°C. Line 18 x 5 cm round cake pan with parchment paper.
3. Whisk 80 g yolks and 35 g castor sugar till thick and pale. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract and ground almonds. Sift 20 g cake flour and 1/6 tsp baking soda into mixture. Mix evenly. Add to butter mixture. Fold till almost even.
4. Whisk 80 g egg whites till thick foam forms. Add 1/8 tsp cream of tartar. Whisk till foam thickens further. Gradually add 35 g castor sugar as you continue whisking. Keep whisking till egg whites just reach stiff peak stage. Fold into yolk and butter mixture in 2 batches till just evenly mixed, scraping down thoroughly as you fold. 
5. Pour batter into cake pan and level top. Bake till cake shrinks very slightly from sides, around 40 minutes. If cake browns too fast – check 25 minutes into baking – block oven's top heat with baking tray. Remove cake from oven. Let cool a few minutes. Unmould and leave on wire rack till completely cool.

Source: adapted from Rose's Kitchen