This is a cake making the rounds right now on the internet. It’s unusual – I would never have thought to put turmeric in a sweet cake. But it works! It also gives the cake a brilliant yellow hue. It isn’t featured anywhere with the icing, I just thought it would be a nice finish on the cake, plus it was my niece’s birthday and I wanted her to know that while we couldn’t join her, I still made cupcakes for her – which my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed (but not in front of her).

This cake, without the icing, is ideal for tea or coffee or really any time. Not too sweet, I made it in a muffin tin because somehow, “we” don’t feel quite as guilty eating a cupcake as we do slicing into a cake – go figure! I also wasn’t about to go out and buy a Savarin mold. Haven’t used one of these since Chef school and really didn’t see the use of it then. I like the tahini in this recipe – you know I use it a lot in baking, and the sesame seeds also added a nice crunch. I did think painting the muffin tin cups with the tahini would produce an awful mess and had visions of me spooning out the baked goods. But it worked fine. I got 10 cupcakes from the quantities in this recipe (just over 2 cups of batter).

I used Durham Semolina Wheat flour, it’s pale yellow but not corn meal – package actually says Durham Semolina (pictured below). Mine wasn’t fine flour but slightly grainy, not the coarse grind. I liked the texture of this in the cake – you know, mouth feel. I did cut back on the amount of orange blossom water suggested as it can be overwhelming if too much is used. Besides, I could always make an orange blossom flavored simple syrup if I needed more taste of the orange. I was going to do a simple buttercream icing but thought of the orange blossom flavor and thought it would complement it nicely – it did!

To give it that extra boost of flavor, I mixed a couple of tablespoons of cream with about 1 teaspoon of the orange blossom water. Once the butter and sugar was whipped to a smooth mixture, I added the orange/cream mixture by the tablespoon and beat it until I got the right consistency for my needs. This is a nice cake to make while quarantined. Turmeric, though not really in a large quantity in this recipe, is good for you – it has anti-inflammatory properties and is also used as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (#notjustafoodblog :)). Hey, anything that boosts any part of our body to prevent something these days – that’s a good thing! Make this cake and for any day of the week – doesn’t matter what day! As always – enjoy!

1 tbsp. approximately tahini paste – please stir from the bottom and several times, it settles and hardens but is easily loosened through stirring briskly – yes it can be messy so hold on tight to the jar – this should be a pantry staple – not refrigerated though
2 tbsp. black and white sesame seeds – or just one color, doesn’t matter which
¾ cup (95 g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (150 g) superfine sugar or regular – I just happened to have superfine
¾ cup (95 g) semolina flour – I think they wanted the fine flour, but I used the small grain type – they don’t weigh the same so use 95g of whatever type of flour you have or decide to use – get a scale
1 tsp. ground turmeric
¾ tsp. baking powder
⅔ cup whole milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. orange blossom water

Preheat the oven to 350f
Use the tahini to “grease” the inside of 10 cups of a muffin tin (or a 7” square tin) and sprinkle the insides with the sesame seeds – set aside
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, semolina, turmeric, and baking powder – make a well in the center
Pour in the milk, oil, and orange blossom water – mix well until the batter is smooth
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, transfer to the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, for the cupcakes, 18 minutes – check at 16 minutes, and for a 7” square tin, 30–35 minutes – check at 25 minutes
Serve while still a little warm or at room temperature with coffee or tea

Orange Blossom Buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3-4 cups icing sugar, always sifted please
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tbsp. 35% cream
1 tsp orange blossom water

In a small bowl, mix the cream and orange blossom water together, add 1 tbsp. of icing sugar and mix to form a smooth runny paste – set aside
Using the paddle attachment and on medium speed, beat the butter until smooth
Turn off the mixer and add the 3 cups of sifted powdered sugar – if you don’t have one of those shields that cover the bowl, use saran wrap or a towel wrapped around the top of the machine to keep icing sugar from reaching parts unknown in your kitchen – make sure the towel or plastic wrap are not touching the beaters
Turn the machine on low until mixed, then medium speed until smooth
With the mixer on low, add the salt and the orange blossom cream mixture – 1 tbsp. at a time
Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 2-3 minutes until it is creamy in appearance and the desired consistency and taste is achieved – needs to be stiffer for piping – like my brilliant work below – not!
If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar; if your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining cream mix 1 tbsp. at a time