Kalo Prama - Cypriot Semolina Cake #BakingBloggers

Kalo prama, καλό πράγμα in the original Greek, translates as “good stuff.” I can assure you that this Cypriot semolina cake is indeed very good stuff! The batter is easy and a lemon syrup adds even more flavor and a delightful stickiness that makes it hard to stop with just one slice.

Years and years ago, when I was in university, one of my best friends was a brilliant dark-haired girl with the widest smile and a wicked laugh. She was from Cyprus, a place I was completely unfamiliar with. Her small island nation was in still in upheaval after being invaded by Turkish forces in the mid-1970s, so she had been sent to study in the United States.

I’ve thought about her often over the years, especially just a couple of years ago when I planned a trip to Cyprus for a family holiday. I searched the student records at the University of Texas to see if I could find her whole name but without much luck. It is one of my deepest regrets that we lost touch.

While there is still a physical border between the Turkish held northeast and the Greek southwest, Cyprus is finally safe to visit. It is possible to cross over but we stayed on the Greek side in a gorgeous multilevel house built into a cliff, with a fabulous view of the sea. By day we explored the tourist sites, visited grocery stores and roadside stands (my favorite thing to do no matter where I go!) and in the evening we cooked tasty local ingredients for suppers at home and enjoyed the pool and view.

This special cake was on all the lunch menus, in all the local restaurants.

Kalo Prama or Cypriot Semolina Cake

I must confess: The pistachios are not traditional. Most recipes call for blanched almonds to decorate kalo prama. I’ve been trying to use the contents of my freezer and I could not resist adding the colorful pistachios instead of plain white almonds that I would have had to go out and buy. By all means use almonds if you have them. My recipe is adapted from one at SBS.au.

Ingredients
For the cake batter:
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1/2 cup or 113g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup or 185g fine semolina
1 cup or 125g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten

For the syrup:
1 cup or 200g sugar
1/3 cup or 90ml water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Optional to decorate: blanched almonds or pistachio slivers

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a loaf pan with baking parchment.

To make the cake batter, whisk the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.

Add in the semolina, flour, vanilla and salt. Mix well. Finally, beat in the eggs until completely combined.

Spoon the batter into your prepared baking pan and smooth out the top.

Top with almonds or slivered pistachios, if desired.

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into middle of cake comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the syrup by warming all of the ingredients in a small pot, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool.

As I was researching recipes, I came across this piece of advice from the Greek Food Alchemist: “Another big tip when adding syrup to a Greek or Cypriot dessert is to always have one cold. So if your cake is hot your syrup should be cold and vice versa. If both are hot then the dessert will crumble before your eyes beyond salvation (based on personal experience!)”

When your cake is finished baking, pour a little cool syrup over the hot cake. Once it has soaked in, add a bit more and wait for it to soak in. Repeat until all of the syrup is absorbed.

Leave to cool completely, then slice to serve.

Enjoy!

This month my Baking Blogger friends are sharing Greek, Cypriot or Turkish recipes. Make sure you check them all out! Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm.

• Alevropita (Greek Thin-Batter Feta Pie) from Tara's Multicultural Table 
• Apricot Sekerpare (Turkish Thumbprint Cookies) from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Baked Kabak Mücver from Sneha's Recipe 
• Bougatsa from Simply Inspired Meals 
• Cypriot Lamb Tavas from Pandemonium Noshery 
• Flaounes (Cypriot Cheese Pastries) from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Kalo Prama - Cypriot Semolina Cake from Food Lust People Love 
• Kreatopita from A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Sekerpare from The Schizo Chef  
• Simit (Turkish Sesame Bagels) from Karen's Kitchen Stories 
• Tiropita (Greek cheese pastries) from Caroline's Cooking

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

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Hot Smoked Salmon Choux Bites #BakingBloggers

Airy and light, choux buns can be stuffed with either sweet or savory fillings. My hot smoked salmon choux bites have a rich, flavorful filling that perfectly complements the fluffy buns. Serve these at your next gathering and watch them disappear.

Choux pastry often shows up in patisseries or bakeries in fancy shapes like eclairs or choux swans filled with sweetened custards or whipped cream so most folks imagine it must be hard to make. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, although I used to beat the requisite eggs into the dough by hand, I have discovered that it can be done in my stand mixer. Now choux is even faster and easier than ever to make.

One of the things I like best about choux pastry is that it lends itself equally well to sweet desserts, like my lemon raspberry croquembouche or savory appetizers, like these hot smoked salmon choux bites. And, another bonus, it is made with ingredients most people almost invariably have on hand. Water, flour, butter and eggs. And just a little of those four go a long way!

This month my fellow Baking Bloggers are sharing our favorite choux pastry recipes. If you’ve been nervous about giving it a try, perhaps we can convince you that it really is easy.

Hot Smoked Salmon Choux Bites

These tasty hot smoked salmon choux bites are a great make-ahead appetizer. Bake your choux buns and make your filling, just fill and serve at party time. Makes about 24-30.

Ingredients
For the choux pastry:
1/4 cup or 50g butter
1/2 cup or 120ml water
1/2 cup or 65g plain flour
1 pinch salt
2 eggs, at room temperature

For the hot smoked salmon filling:
7 ounces or 200g smoked salmon (Mine was hot smoked so it looks more "cooked" than cold smoked salmon. But you can use either.)
5 oz or about 145g cream cheese, at room temperature
3 1/2 oz or 100g Boursin garlic and fine herb soft cheese or an equivalent
2-3 green onion tops, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup or 80ml heavy cream

Optional for decorating: Maille mustard with fine herbs or tarragon.
I used the mustard with tarragon, which was quite delicious because salmon and mustard do go nicely together, especially with a hot smoked salmon filling as rich as this one. But I must confess that I bought it initially just because of the color. Perhaps you will be lucky enough to find it where you live.

Method
Preheat your oven to 445°F or 230°C and prepare your baking sheet by lining it with baking parchment stuck down with a little non-stick spray.

Tip: Make your life easier by using a bottle top or some other round object as a template to draw circles on the bottom of your parchment paper. Turn the parchment over and use the pencil circles as a guide for piping your choux pastry. You want 1 inch or 2.5cm circles about an equal measure apart on the parchment. I've included the bottle cap I used in the photos so you can see how small the choux buns started out and how much they puffed up when baked. (I did not bake the cap!)

To make your choux pastry buns, sift together your flour and a pinch of salt and put it right next to the stove in readiness.

In a medium pot, combine the butter and water and bring to the boil. Pour the flour/salt mixture into the boiling water/butter all at once.

Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a ball and pulls right away from the sides. This takes just a minute or two. Now take the pot off of the stove and tip the mixture into your stand mixer.

(This can also be done the traditional way, by hand with a wooden spoon. Check out my croquembouche recipe to see how that's done.) Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well. It looks like the egg won’t mix in and the dough starts to fall apart but keep mixing and after a little beating, the dough comes together again and it’s time to add the second egg.

After that egg has been incorporated into the dough, put the dough by spoonfuls into a piping bag with a large tip.

Pipe the soft dough on the parchment paper in 1 inch or 2.5cm circles about an equal measure apart from each other, using your circles as a guide, if you followed the tip above. Poke down any pointy tops with a damp finger.

Bake the choux in your preheated oven for 10 minutes then turn the temperature down to 350°F or 180°C and bake for a further 25-30 minutes or until golden.

Remove from the oven and poke a hole in one side of each choux bun with a toothpick. This allows the steam to escape and helps the choux bun keep its shape as it cools. Cool completely on a wire rack.

While the choux buns are baking, you can make your hot smoked salmon filling. Use a fork to flake the fish, discarding any bones that might have been missed when it was filleted.

In a bowl, mix together your filling ingredients up to the cream. Add and mix in cream a couple of tablespoons at a time, until you get a nice consistency to your filling, not too soft but definitely spoon-able. You may not use all of the cream. Or if your salmon was on the dry side, you might want a little more.

If you aren’t serving the hot smoked salmon choux bites immediately, store the filling covered with cling film in the refrigerator and, once the choux buns are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container.

When you are ready to serve, cut the choux buns in half and fill with a good spoon of the chilled hot smoked salmon filling.

Put the top of the choux bun back on. Decorate by piping on some herby mustard, if desired.

You may have noticed that I made so many more than are in the photographs. That’s because I took some to a dinner party and filled them there. The rest? I ate them. So good!

Enjoy!

Many thanks to one of our fearless leaders and this month’s host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out all the choux pastry recipes!

• Boston Cream Puffs by Cookaholic Wife
• Burnt Caramel Croquembouche by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Cannoli Cream Puffs by The RedHead Baker
• Cream Puffs with Ice Cream and Chocolate by Sneha’s Recipe
• Double Chocolate Cream Puffs by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Gougères - French Cheese Puffs by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Ham Salad Pate a Choux by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Hot Smoked Salmon Choux Bites by Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Cream Puffs by Palatable Pastime

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