Changes, hints, tips and thoughts:

- this recipe came to me from my friend, Andrea -- her mother sent it to her, telling her to make it some day...the problem being that my friend is allergic to nuts...um...and eggs. So, I made this in honor of her -- she can look at the picture and pretend to eat it (!)

- the original recipe called for hazelnuts rather than pecans; I think I'm allergic to hazelnuts (I get a swollen lip and tight throat when I eat them) so I used pecans instead...not a bad substitution at all.

- this cake was quite good -- not heavy (no flour, no kidding!) and not too sweet. Good with coffee or tea or for an afternoon snack.

 

 

Syrian Nut Cake

Ingredients:
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
3 large whole eggs
3 tablespoons clementine or orange juice
1 teaspoon clementine or orange zest, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup matzo cake meal
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1/4 cup finely chopped pistachios
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Syrup:
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup clementine or orange juice
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:
Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Generously grease an 8-inch square cake pan.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, oil and eggs very well until mixture is thick and pale yellow. Stir in the orange juice, zest, salt, cinnamon, cake meal and nuts. Turn batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until top is light brown and set. Let the cake cool in the pan while you prepare the syrup. When the cake has cooled, poke holes in the cake at 3/4" intervals, using a wooden skewer.

Syrup:
1. In a medium saucepan, heat the sugar, honey, orange juice, water, lemon juice and cinnamon until the sugar is dissolved and then simmer 5 - 10 minutes until the mixture becomes syrupy. Cool to room temperature.
2. Slowly pour the syrup over the cooled cake. Let the cake sit in the refrigerator for several hours to allow it to absorb the syrup and firm up enough to be cut.