Mannik with Milk (Semolina Cake)

Batter

1. Semolina, eggs, sugar, milk or kefir (kefir mannik), flavorings and baking powder. The finished bake is an excellent dessert on its own or a base for cakes, pastries and other desserts.

   Ordinary semolina from the store is coarsely ground wheat flour. There is semolina from soft and durum wheat, as well as a mix of the two. You can use Italian durum wheat flour; the package says semola di grano duro. Coarse cornmeal gives an excellent result too: an especially tasty, textured gluten-free bake. Many people will appreciate that.

2. Soak the semolina. In a large bowl, mix 200 ml of milk, 50 g of melted butter and 3 eggs. Whisk everything thoroughly with a whisk until smooth. Sift in 160 g of semolina and add it to the milk and egg mixture. Mix thoroughly to avoid lumps. Leave the bowl for 40-45 mins so the semolina can swell.

3. Mix the dry ingredients. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine a cup of sugar (180 g), 0.5 tsp of vanilla sugar (2 g) and half a sachet of baking powder (3 g) (1 heaping tsp). Add a full heaping tablespoon of plain wheat flour, which acts as a binder for the coarse semolina grains. Stir the ingredients together.

   You can make the mannik less sweet by reducing the sugar in the cream and the decoration.

4. Combine the batter. After the time is up, add the dry ingredients to the milk and egg mixture and mix thoroughly. Grate 1 tbsp of lemon or orange zest and add it to the batter. This helps avoid an eggy taste and smell. Mix the batter very thoroughly.

   If you like, you can add nuts, raisins, candied fruit, cocoa and so on to the batter before baking. The bake is especially good with poppy seeds, sunflower seeds and pistachios.

Baking

1. Prepare the pan and the oven. Grease a baking pan of a suitable size with a very small amount of vegetable oil or butter. Keep in mind that the mannik will almost double in height while baking. I use a silicone pan 20 cm in diameter and about as tall as a matchstick. Preheat the oven to 190-200°C.

3. Bake the mannik for 40-50 mins. Pour all the batter into the pan and put it in the preheated oven. While baking, the batter rises in the pan and becomes fluffier. When the top starts to brown, pierce it with a toothpick: if no liquid batter sticks to the wood, the bake is done.

4. Let it cool. Take the pan out of the oven and transfer the baked mannik to a board or plate. It should cool down completely.

Serving

1. To enjoy mannik with tea, simply sprinkle the top with powdered sugar and cut it into portions.

2. For a cake, cut the cooled mannik into layers and spread them with custard cream or any other. You can also spread cream on top and decorate with strawberries, sprigs of mint or other fruit. Cakes that use such layers as a base turn out exceptionally tasty.