Gers ogaily

Ingredients

Cake

• 6eggs
• 250 gcaster sugar
• 250 gplain flour
• 180 mloil
• or 180 g melted butter
• 2 teaspoonsbaking powder
• a large pinch of saffron
• 2 teaspoonsground cardamom
• 1 teaspoonrose water
• or 1 teaspoon vanilla
• a pinch of salt

To top

• 3 tablespoonssesame seeds
• 1 tablespoonnigella seeds, optional
• chopped pistachios, optional

To serve

• gahwa, Arabic coffee
• or tea

Directions

1. Crush the saffron threads in a small bowl. Use the back of a spoon or a pestle. Add two tablespoons of warm water. Or use warm milk instead of water. Let it steep for at least fifteen minutes. Grind the pods fresh if you can.
2. Oil rather than butter keeps it soft for days. Put the eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Beat them together at high speed. Keep going for a good eight minutes. They should treble in their volume. Lift the beater and the trail should sit on top. That trail should hold for a few seconds.
3. Pour in the bloomed saffron with its liquid. Add the ground cardamom to it. Add the rose water or vanilla. Beat them in only very briefly. Adding the oil takes a slow hand. Pour the oil in a thin steady stream. Keep the beater running as you pour.
4. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. It aerates the flour and prevents lumps. Add it in three separate additions. Fold it in with a large metal spoon.
5. Cut down through the middle and lift over. Turn the bowl round as you go. Stop the moment no dry flour is visible. Grease a round tin about twenty-six centimetres. Line the base with baking paper.
6. Grease the paper itself as well. This cake sticks badly if the tin is bare. Heat the oven to 175C before baking. Pour the batter into the lined tin. Scatter the sesame seeds over the top. Add nigella seeds and pistachios if you like. Bake it for about forty minutes. Judging when it is done takes a test.
7. Press the top and it should spring back. Do not open the oven in the first thirty minutes. Let it cool in the tin for ten minutes. Peel the paper off from the base. Let it cool completely before cutting. Cutting it hot tears the crumb. Cut it into diamonds or squares. Serve gahwa alongside the cake. It keeps four days kept in a tin.

Technique

• The cake is traditionally traced to the Ogaily family, an attribution whose details vary between accounts and which is traditional rather than documented; what is certain is that the name has stuck across the Gulf.
• Saffron must be bloomed in warm water or milk before it goes into the batter, since dry threads thrown in do very little while bloomed saffron colours the whole cake gold.
• The eggs and sugar must be beaten to the ribbon stage, trebling in volume, since under-beaten eggs give a flat heavy cake and the oil must then be poured in a thin stream or it collapses them.

Substitutions

• Melted butter can replace the oil, though the cake stays soft for less time.
• Vanilla stands in for rose water if that flavour is not wanted.

Variations

• Some bakers add nigella seeds alongside the sesame.
• A version baked in a tray and cut into small squares is common.
• Similar saffron and cardamom cakes are baked across the Gulf.

History

Saffron and cardamom sponge cake baked for gatherings, traditionally traced to the Ogaily family.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gers ogaily?

Gers ogaily is a dessert from Kuwait: saffron-cardamom sponge cake sprinkled with sesame. Saffron and cardamom sponge cake baked for gatherings, traditionally traced to the Ogaily family.

How long does Gers ogaily take to make?

Gers ogaily takes 25 minutes of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes one cake, 12 pieces. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Gers ogaily?

Yes, within limits. Melted butter can replace the oil, though the cake stays soft for less time. Vanilla stands in for rose water if that flavour is not wanted.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gers ogaily?

Crush the saffron threads in a small bowl. Use the back of a spoon or a pestle. Add two tablespoons of warm water. Or use warm milk instead of water. Let it steep for at least fifteen minutes. Grind the pods fresh if you can.