Turkish Semolina Cake in Milk Syrup (Sütlü Revani)

Take the eggs and the milk for the batter out of the fridge in advance; the ingredients should be at room temperature. Set the oven to 175 °C (conventional, top and bottom heat). Using a brush, oil the base and sides of a round fixed-base tin about 26 cm in diameter, or a glass baking dish, with 1 dessertspoon (10 ml) of vegetable oil; a springform tin with a removable base will let the milk syrup leak out.

For the syrup, put 3 water glasses (600 ml) of milk and 240 g of granulated sugar in a saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes until the sugar has completely dissolved; do not let the syrup boil, and take it off the heat as soon as small bubbles appear around the edges. Leave it to cool to room temperature while the cake bakes.

Chef's tip: Sweetened milk foams up quickly and boils over once it reaches boiling point; stay by the pan and turn off the heat as soon as the sugar has dissolved.

Put the 3 eggs and 80 g of granulated sugar in a deep bowl. Beat with the mixer on high speed for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture turns pale, has clearly increased in volume and is foamy.

With the mixer running, pour in 1 Turkish tea glass (100 ml) of vegetable oil and 1 water glass (200 ml) of room-temperature milk in a thin stream. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, until the mixture comes together.

Sift the flour, the baking powder and, if using, the vanilla into the bowl. Mix with a spatula or with the mixer on low speed until no dry flour remains. Add the semolina last and stir it in; the batter should be slightly thicker than a regular cake batter and fall from the spoon in a thick ribbon.

Without letting it stand, pour the batter into the oiled tin and level it with a spatula; batter that is left to sit rises less. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven, preheated to 175 °C, for 30-35 minutes, and do not open the oven door for the first 20 minutes. The cake is done when the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Chef's tip: The batter contains raw egg: do not taste it before it is baked. If the toothpick comes out with wet batter on it, bake the cake for 5 more minutes and test again.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the tin for 10 minutes. Then, without taking it out of the tin, cut it into 10 pieces right through to the base with a sharp knife; the cuts let the syrup soak evenly into the cake.

Stir the milk syrup, which has now cooled to room temperature, and ladle it a little at a time over the whole surface of the cake, over the cuts and around the edges. Do not add the next ladleful until the previous one has soaked in. The syrup looks like too much at first; the cake absorbs all of it as it rests.

Chef's tip: Cooled syrup goes onto the hot cake; do not combine the cake and the syrup while both are hot.

Leave the dessert on the counter for about 30 minutes, until it has come down to room temperature. Cover it and chill it in the fridge for at least 3 hours; in that time the syrup is fully absorbed and the dessert reaches the right texture for serving cold.

Just before serving, sprinkle with ground pistachios if you like, and serve the slices cold, straight from the fridge. Because the milk-syrup dessert has already spent about 1.5 hours at room temperature before going into the fridge, do not leave it on the counter after serving; put any leftovers back in the fridge right away, covered, and eat them within 2-3 days.