Cyprus – Kalo Prama

Country 5/28, it’s Cyprus! Birthplace of Aphrodite, my favourite cheese, halloumi, and the oldest known pet cat, which was buried with its owner around 9,500 years ago. Cyprus was split in 1974, into the Cypriot-Greek south and the Turkish-Cypriot north, and hasn’t been properly reunited since, so while *technically* the whole of Cyprus is in the EU, only the southern part is subject to EU legislation.

Kalo prama is a traditional semolina cake from Cyprus, drenched in syrup. Kalo prama translates as ‘good stuff’, which I can certainly say it is. There are different versions of it in neighbouring countries (Greece, Egypt, Lebanon, to name a few). It’s usually made with coarse semolina, however I didn’t have much luck finding it, so I’ve made it with fine semolina instead. It seems to work both ways, although I suppose mine is a little less authentic. If you make it with coarse semolina it’s likely to take up to an hour to cook, rather than the 45 minutes I’ve put below.

And in Brexit news, the House of Commons is getting a vote on whether we stay in the single market(!), and Boris Johnson doesn’t want an EU customs partnership (what a surprise).

This post is part of a series called ‘Brexit Baking’, where I bake my way around all 28 EU Member States. You can read more about it here.

Kalo Prama (recipe adapted from here)

400g semolina
365g Greek style full fat yogurt
300g cup sugar
2 eggs
200ml sunflower oil
2tsp baking powder
20 almonds

For the syrup:
300g sugar
470ml water
lemon zest
1 stick cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Make the syrup: Place all the ingredients in a pan on the hob and bring to the boil. As soon as it starts to boil, leave for 5 minutes and then remove from the heat. Let it cool completely.
2. In a bowl add the semolina, sugar,yogurt, oil, eggs, and baking powder. Stir together until all ingredients are combined.
3. Pour the mix into a greased baking tray approx 35×23 cm. On top, place the almonds one by one creating five rows of four. Bake for 45mins – 1 hour.
4. Remove from the oven and pour the cold syrup evenly on the cake. Leave the cake to soak up the syrup, ideally overnight, but at least for a few hours otherwise. *Important* The syrup should be cold if you pour it on the cake when it is hot, otherwise the cake will collapse.