Eggless Lemon Semolina Cake

Step 1

In one bowl, mix the oil with sugar and salt. Mix until the salt and sugar are fully melted. Add the tomato paste, one tbsp at the time and continue mixing. Add the rum essence. Now add the baking soda and the flour, bit by bit, around 2/3 cups at the time. Continue mixing until the result is a sort of elastic, non-sticky dough. (read notes for troubleshooting)

Step 2

Once the dough reaches the right consistency, chill it in the fridge for around 30 minutes.

Step 3

Preheat the oven to 175C / 350F.Take the dough out of the fridge and measure it on a scale. Divide it into four equal parts. If you don't have a scale, try to be as precise as possible.Roll each part into a rectangle. I aimed for a minimum of 30 cm x 20 cm Don't worry if you are not super precise but try to get all four rectangles roughly the same.

Step 4

As a tip, I rolled the dough directly on a baking sheet. This is a delicate dough which can break quite easily, so rolling it directly on the baking sheet made my life a lot easier.Bake each sheet separately, for 8 minutes. The sheet should be slightly crisp but not too brittle or it might break.

Step 5

Set sheets aside and allow to cool before on their baking paper handling them.

Step 6

Bring the water to a boil, then add the sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and lemon zest if using. Mix well until the sugar is fully dissolved. Add the semolina bit by bit. Mix continuously so no lumps form. Keep mixing until the semolina thickens. Add the lemon juice and vegan butter and mix for another 2-3 minutes.Remove from the hob and set aside to cool slightly.

Step 7

Use a large baking tray (which fits in your fridge) and place one cake sheet (together with the baking paper underneath it) on it.Add 1/3 of semolina filling over the cake sheet and using a spoon spread it evenly. Gently remove the next cake sheet from the baking paper and place it over the semolina filling. Add another 1/3 of semolina filling and spread it evenly. Add the third cake sheet and the remaining semolina filling. Add the last cake sheet.

Step 8

Put the whole baking tray in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight. Once cooled, you will notice that the semolina filling is now a set cream and the layers become moist and fluffy.

Step 9

Cut the cake in a perfect rectangle and set the edges of the cake aside, so you can eat them as quick snacks. You can now slice the cake and remove on a decorative plate. Dust with icing sugar or freeze-dried raspberry. Enjoy