Semolina & Orange Cake

This recipe is a combination of several I found on-line, after misplacing my original recipe (I later found it tucked into one of my Italian cookbooks). The cake has a texture similar to poundcake, and the syrup has some similarity to an orange marmalade syrup.

Ingredients: 

For the cake:

1 cup semolina flour (coarse-ground Semolina flour)
1 cup flour (unbleached white flour)
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 stick half-melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt
1/2 cup milk
Grated peel of one orange & one lemon

For the syrup:

1 1/2 cup sugar 
1 cup water
1 or 2 bay leaves (optional)
1 seedless navel orange, sliced into very thin slices

Make the syrup: combine the syrup ingredients in a deep pan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes. Do not try to taste the syrup as it will be boiling hot. Let cool. Remove the bay leaves. When cool, pour about 1/4 of the syrup (without the fruit) over the just-baked cake, allowing it to soak in. Save the rest of the syrup to spoon over individual slices of the cake when you serve it. 

Prepare the cake pan (a tube pan will work) by greasing it well with butter. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees, to preheat.

To mix the cake:  mix the dry ingredients (Semolina, flour, baking powder, salt) in a large bowl. Combine the "wet" ingredients in a separate bowl, taking care not to accidently cook the eggs (possible if you over-heated the butter). Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing well. If too stiff, add a little more milk - should have the consistency of cornbread. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, check for doneness, then remove from oven. Poke holes in the cake with a toothpick, and pour about 1/4 of the syrup over the cake, allowing it to soak in. Serve individual slices with additional syrup over the top. 

Variation: One of the recipes I found on-line called for 6 eggs, separated, with the whites beaten until stiff and then folded into the batter. (Yolks would be mixed with the rest of the "wet" ingredients.) The beaten egg whites would make the cake lighter.