Sfoof Turmeric Cake {Egg Free, Vegan}

Name: Turmeric Cake (Sfoof)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 16 servings
Ingredients: 2 tbsp tahini; 65 g vegetable shortening.; 200 g sugar; 200 g plain flour; 150 g fine semolina; 1 tsp baking powder; 2 tbsp tahini; 1 tbsp ground turmeric; 280 ml almond milk; 2 tbsp pine nuts; 2 tbsp pine nuts

Why should you Make Sfoof Turmeric Cake?

Be different! This vibrantly yellow cake looks like no other, and has a delicious, sweet, hearty and almost earthy taste from the turmeric
It’s simple to make. It only uses one bowl, and as it uses soft vegetable shortening which soft and easy to cream into the sugar, there’s no need for an electric mixer
There’s no egg, so it’s easily scalable to the size of your baking tray.
It’s suitable for vegans

Sfoof or Sfouf?

It doesn’t really matter, like many words that are transliterated from script to another there will be different spellings according to the conventions used. Turmeric cake is the translation, and sfoof or sfouf the transliteration from Arabic.

Cakes with semolina are popular across the Middle East and sfoof can be found with many variations from Lebanon to Syria.

Is this Coffee Cake or Cake for Coffee?

Here in the UK, coffee cake is generally a coffee flavoured cake, whereas everywhere else in the world, particularly in Continental Europe, coffee cake is a cake that’s enjoyed with coffee.

I suppose this reflects the difference between European cafe culture, and here where cake is traditionally enjoyed at tea time with, well… tea.

As to what the rest of the world calls coffee flavoured cake, I have no idea – possibly a coffee coffee cake? However, this turmeric cake is definitely best enjoyed with a fresh cup of hot coffee.

How to Make Turmeric Cake (Sfoof)

First – heat oven to to 180°C (Fan) / 375°F / Gas mark 5, and measure out the ingredients. Adjust the amount of turmeric according to your taste, and how powerful your spice is. If it’s fresh, then moderate the amount. If it’s been in the back of the cupboard a bit too long, then add a bit more.

Second – in a large bowl, cream together the vegetable shortening and sugar

Then add the remaining cake ingredients: flour, semolina, baking powder, tahini, turmeric, almond milk, and pine nuts.

Mix together.

Third – line a a 10″ x 6″ (25cm x 15cm) tray-bake cake tin with baking parchment, and brush the inside of the parchment with tahini. A silicone pastry brush works very well here.

Our top cake-baking tip is to clip the baking parchment to the tin with a couple of small bulldog clips, this really holds the parchment in place as you pour the mixture in. A simple thing that really helps! Remove the clips before baking.

Fourth – pour the mixture into the cake tin, and garnish with pine nuts. Gently push the pine nuts into the batter so they stick and won’t roll off the freshly baked cake.

Fifth – Bake for about 35 minutes. Check to see if it’s cooked through with a toothpick – stick into the centre of the cake. It’s done when there’s no wet cake mixture on the toothpick when you pull it out. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Recipe variations for Sfoof Turmeric Cake

There are probably as many variations for these traditional recipes as cooks who have made the recipe so let your imagination run wild. Here are some ideas.

Swap the pine nuts for almonds or pistachios
Add 1/2 tsp of ground star anise
Use a medium ground semolina to change the texture of the cake
Make a sugar or honey syrup and pour over the cake when it is still warm
Garnish with dried rose petals – especially good with pistachios
Add a little rose water or orange flower water to the cake
Flavour with orange zest and replace some of the milk with orange juice

We made this cake using Trex vegetable shortening, which is perfect for this cake as it’s soft and so easy to mix in. It’s a fantastic dairy free alternative to butter for baking. It’s lower in saturated fat than butter and also suitable for vegans. It’s also free from hydrogenated vegetable oil, e-numbers, colours and preservatives.

It also goes a long way: as it doesn’t contain water, you can use 20% less compared to butter when baking. It also makes pure white buttercream when whipped up with icing sugar.

Serve this with a Spiced Tumeric Milk or for another one of my recipes using Trex try my vegan apple and berry crumbles.

4.96 from 21 votes

A top down view of eight square slices of yellow sfoof turmeric cake on a white square porcelain board.

Turmeric Cake (Sfoof)

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Total Time

40 mins

This cake is easy to make, using only one bowl - vibrantly yellow cake with delicious rich flavours from turmeric. A perfect cake for a mid-morning cup of coffee, it's inspired by the sfoof turmeric cake of the Middle East.

Made with vegetable shortening that's easy to mix, so there's no need for an electric mixer, and it's egg free (so easily scalable) and suitable for vegans.

Course: Cake, Cakes

Cuisine: Cakes & Bakes

Keyword: Turmeric cake

Servings: 16 servings

Calories: 206 kcal

Author: Helen Best-Shaw

Ingredients

To grease the cake tin

2 tbsp tahini

Cake ingredients

65 g vegetable shortening.
200 g sugar
200 g plain flour
150 g fine semolina
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp ground turmeric
280 ml almond milk
2 tbsp pine nuts

Garnish

2 tbsp pine nuts

Instructions

Heat oven to 180°C (Fan) / 375°F / Gas mark 5. Line a a 10" x 6" (25cm x 15cm) tray-bake cake tin with baking parchment, and brush the parchment with tahini. A silicone pastry brush works very well here.
In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar. Add flour, semolina, baking powder, tahini, turmeric, almond milk, and pine nuts and mix together.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin and garnish evenly with pine nuts.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Check to see if it's cooked through with a toothpick - stick into the centre of the cake. It's done when there's no wet cake mixture on the toothpick when you pull it out.

Recipe Notes

To stop the baking parchment flopping into the tray before you add the batter, clip it to the sides with small bulldog clips.

Options and variations:

You can substitute your preferred non-dairy milk.
Bake with almonds or pistachios rather than pine nuts and garnish with a few rose petals
Adjust the amount of turmeric used according to strength. If it's been sitting in the back of your spice cupboard for a while, add a little more. If it's fresh, add less.
Use self raising flour and leave out the baking powder.
Should you want, add 1/2 tsp of ground star anise for a more authentic sfoof flavour.
This recipe is 8 Weight Watchers Smart Points per portion

Nutrition Facts

Turmeric Cake (Sfoof)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 206 Calories from Fat 72

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 8g 12%

Saturated Fat 1g 5%

Sodium 64mg 3%

Potassium 105mg 3%

Total Carbohydrates 30g 10%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 12g

Protein 3g 6%

Vitamin C 0.3%

Calcium 4.4%

Iron 8.3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Post and recipe for Sfoof Turmeric Cake commsioned by Trex. All opinions are our own. For more recipes and to learn more about Trex visit https://familybaking.co.uk/