Mom's Sugee Cake

Sugee cake is a traditional Eurasian cake made of semolina and almond, and is often eaten during festive and celebratory occasions such as Christmas, birthdays and weddings.  We are not Eurasian, but we do love this cake, and also serve it once a year, during Chinese New Year.  Thank goodness.  You’ll understand why in a minute when you read the recipe - this calorie-laden, artery-busting cake is so good, yet not so good for your heart, waist, hips, thighs, chin and what not.  Check out the number of eggs – definitely not for the faint hearted.  But as I say, it’s a once-a-year cake, so all is forgiven if you decide to hoard and eat half the cake by yourself…although I am not suggesting that I (almost) did just that…

Anyway, on to the recipe, which by the way, was passed on to me from my mom, via my cousin who got it from another cousin who got it via another cousin or aunt or something along these lines.  Long story regarding the recipe flow, and yes, my mom’s family tree is kind of all over the place.  And the mystery behind my mom’s almost 40-year-old handwritten recipe book ?  Still unsolved, but we suspect that her previous helper may have accidentally trashed it...it is after all a very very old book, with pages almost falling off.  Since then, we have been going round the family trying to recover some of her recipes !

You will need:
460 g butter
240 g castor sugar
120 g semolina
180 g self raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
10 egg yolks
5 egg whites
60 g coarsely ground almonds or almond slivers
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp brandy (optional)

Preparation:
Beat butter and 120 g of the sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Gradually add the semolina and continue beating until the mixture is well incorporated.  Cover and leave in the bowl to stand at room temperature for 1 - 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 170 deg C.  Butter two 11 x 21 cm loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.  Sift the flour and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and remaining sugar until pale yellow and frothy.  Add in the semolina mixture and beat until light and fluffy.  Avoid overbeating.  Mix the flour and chopped/ground almond into the egg yolk mixture.  Add in the vanilla and brandy, if using.

In another clean and dry bowl, whisk the egg whites until it forms firm stiff peaks.  Fold gently into the cake batter.

Pour the cake batter into prepared cake pans, and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 - 60 minutes until the cake is well browned, and a skewer inserted into it comes out clean.