Binnur's Turkish Cookbook

TurkishCookbook.com - Delicious, healthy and easy-to-make Ottoman & Turkish recipes

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Revani

(Revani - Ottoman Kitchen)

Revani
Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup semolina
2/3 cup flour, all purpose
1 tbsp baking powder

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs

Syrup:
1 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
500 ml water
4-5 drops of lemon juice

8x8x2in oven Pyrex dish or regular cake tray

Boil the syrup ingredients for a few minutes, put aside and let warm.

Use a mixer to blend the wet ingredients for a few minutes until the sugar melts. Then mix together the dry ingredients with a spoon in another bowl. Combine the two thoroughly, again using the mixer.

Grease the bottom and sides of the Pyrex dish and place in the mixture. Preheat the oven to 175 C (375 F) and bake for 25 minutes. Cut Revani into nine equal square pieces. Then pour the warm syrup on top while the cake is still warm. Use a tablespoon to do this and make sure to do it slowly so the cake absorbs the syrup equally.

Let cool and serve Revani with Thick Turkish Cream (Kaymak) and pistachios. Keep this dessert in the fridge.

Labels:


54 Comments:

At 1:39 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi
this sweet dish have not use butter ?

 
At 1:24 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

No, there is no butter in it. You'll only use 1 tbsp of olive oil. It is a very light and tasty dish :)

 
At 12:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Turkish desserts are generally less sweet than the American ones. If you have a very sweet tooth, you may want to increase the sugar. But in my opinion, this causes tasting "sugar" instead of the real taste of the dessert (which is what Americans are used to!)

 
At 4:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I used to watch a friend of mine make this in his shop when I lived in Scotland
but he soaked them in so much syrup that they where far too sweet
I have been looking at your recipies and I can't wait to try them
I have been looking for authentic turkish recipies for years and tonight I have found them.
Merhaba

 
At 10:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Binnur;
oh I'm going to make this. The olive oil is fantastic as I have to avoid butter (cholesterol) & I love that it is not too sweet. Train your palate.
Rory

 
At 11:50 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi,
I;m looking for a cake recipe that uses bread crumbs, eggs, sugar syrup -- there is no flour in this cake. can you help me? Magda

 
At 12:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for the recipe for this delightful treat! I had this cake this past Sunday when I was in San Francisco, and came home to search out a recipe. I substituted almond extract for the vanilla (in syrup and cake). This has become my newest favorite. Thank you for sharing.

p2

 
At 10:43 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Penandra,
Thank you too, for sharing your idea with us:) I love Revani, it's
very refreshing and light...

 
At 11:46 AM, Blogger Estelle Tracy said...

Hi Binnur, I tried this recipe last Thursday and I thought it was just perfect. The cake is delicious and the amount of syrup your recipe called for is right on. It tasted just like my mom's, although her recipe is a little different (she uses yogurt in the batter). I served the squares with some coconut on tope (what my mom does) and 2 stuffed figs on the side ""incir tatlisi, a recipe I found on another blog). Thanks again for this great success, your blog is a wonderful inspiration for me!

 
At 2:33 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Estelle,
What a nice presentation!
Thank you very much. I am especially happy that my recipes are like your mum's. As a mum, it is a fulfilling feeling that you are giving me, thank you for that:) I have a few more Incir Tatlisi recipes, one is Muhallebi on top, I'll post in a couple of weeks, the other one stuffed with walnuts, cooked in milk...I am waiting for September to post that:) I organize my recipes based on any bayrams or seasonally, that's why:)

 
At 1:39 AM, Blogger lwiz said...

I added 1/4 tsp salt which brings out the sweetness of the sugar. I used almond extract instead of vanilla and I added juice from one lemon to the syrup plus the peel from the lemon. It came out very nicely. You didn't specify how thick the syrup should be or how much it should be reduced, but I just let it boil until it just started to thicken. Next time I think I might add some grated almonds-probably grate them in the blender. What do you think of that? I too, tasted the revani in a Turkish restaurant in San Francisco - I think on
Grove St near downtown. Delicious. Thanks for the recipe.

 
At 12:44 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Louise,
I am glad you liked it:) If you like to change and add a few things, why not? But it wouldn't be Revani:) As I specified, the syrup should be boiled just a few minutes. It is a pretty light dessert....
Enjoy it:)

 
At 3:24 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Binnur!
This is such a great great site! I can't wait to try all of these dishes they look hmmm soooo delicious. I was looking for a type of a cake i once had at my aunts neighbors who are turkish. I think they were calling it "wet cake" it is deep chocolate and is very juicy but very tasty. Do you know about it? I do hope so because I do want to have it again.
Thanks,
Zofi

 
At 8:01 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Congrats for making this website. I have a few questions. Firstly i just (generally) wanted to know the differense between unsalted butter and the plain butter. Also in this recipe which flour did you ou the self raising or the plain one? Please please do answer!

 
At 5:07 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Zofi,
Thank you:) It is a lovely cake, I like it too:) I'll post it for you in the future.

 
At 10:54 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi,
I answer all the questions sooner or later:) Butter is for the dishes and has salt in it. Unsalted butter is mainly for the cakes, cookies and some pastries and there is no salt in it.
I used all purpose flour for Revani. I always indicate if I use self raising flour:)

 
At 10:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am so glad to see a good recipe website! Thanks for the great ideas!

 
At 12:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is semolina the same thing as farina?

 
At 3:53 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Semolina is a coarse flour used to make breads and puddings.
Farina is from the Italian for "flour"
Plese check here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semolina

 
At 5:54 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

can I use semolina with durum? I can't find straight semolina? I really want to make this but I can't find semolina

 
At 7:05 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi,
Sure, you can use durum semolina to make Revani.

 
At 11:23 AM, Blogger Ruhina said...

Hullo Binnur,
I absolutely love your site. It brings back memories of my dearly loved Turkish neighbours. Will certainly try a lot out. Hats off to you for this mastery!

 
At 9:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Binnur,
Thanks very much for your recipe. I made this and the proportions were just correct. I have a question though: The final product smells heavily like eggs (i used 4 organic eggs). Is it supposed to smell like this? Do i need to add some spices besides vanilla to take the egg smell away?

 
At 8:43 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Leila,
No, it is not. Maybe the organic egg gave the heavy smell:) Add about half of lemon's zest into the butter next time.

 
At 12:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello and thank you for the website, I have it in my favourites and often browse it. I made Revani yesterday following your recipe and it tasted lovely. Next time I may add slightly more semolina.

cok tesekkurler

 
At 1:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Merhaba Binnur,
I am looking for a cake we used to buy in the bazaar section of Izmir. It was VERY HEAVY and similar to Revani but very yellow & covered in syrup. Bees were always flying thickly around the cart where it was sold . It is NOT Revani,but was cut in diamond-shapes with a single almond on top of each piece. I am looking for 35 yrs for this recipe. Hope you can help me. Thank you for this site,also ! IT IS WONDERFUL !!! Better than ALL my Turkish cookbooks !

 
At 11:47 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Merhaba,

I think what you are asking is Şam Tatlisi which is usually sold in carts by street vendors:) I've already posted it which is under the Dessert section. Here is the address;

http://www.turkishcookbook.com/2007/12/sam-dessert.php

 
At 11:12 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hello again...i tried this revani. followed exactly. how high does the revani reach in your pyrex glass when done. does it reach the top? also, the person who said the revani smells eggy, you suggested adding lemon into the butter..what butter? i wish you would do a video once in a while...would love to see you produce these beautiful desserts with such beautiful precision and presentation!!

 
At 8:18 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi,
It rises a lot as shown in the picture. I made a letter mistake it is supposed to be batter not butter, sorry about that:)

 
At 12:46 AM, Blogger hasi said...

Hello, Your Revani recipe calls for semolina. Is that the same thing as semolina flour? Or is there another type of semolina?

Also, if I use pistachios in a dessert, are they roasted and salted?

Thank you so much.

 
At 5:05 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi,
Yes, they are the same. The pistachio that I use in Revani is not roasted and also is unsalted:)

 
At 10:43 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Salaams Binnur aunty, I am soooooooooooooo thankful for this recipes. I am kurdish from turkey, who just moved to america, and since i never had the need to learn our lovely and wonderful dishes, because we had mommy around, lol :), i am very new in the traditional cooking field.
I really really appreciate you putting this effort in this page, i followed this recipes and it turned out just wonderful, my husband, who is an american, is enjoying your cake recipes with his friends right now :D .
may God bless you n give you a wonderful, sweet and happy life :) ...
salams,
sevda [haleema]

 
At 1:49 PM, Blogger Amanda G said...

I have seen pictures of a darker cake called haşhaşlı revani, but cannot find recipes in English so I'm not sure how it is made or what the differences are between that and traditional. Are you familiar with it?

I have made your traditional revani many times and it is a family favorite for sure! Thank you for all of your great recipes!

 
At 10:45 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Amanda,
Google also translate the pages it depends where (which country) you search the recipe.
I am going to post it in the future:)

 
At 4:46 PM, Anonymous Reyhan said...

Hi Binnur,

I am about to try your recipe. I am confused with semolina and semolina flour. are they the same things? my mom said "irmik" is different then what i showed to her on my webcam. she thinks it wont work with semolina flour, but that is the only thing i could find.

Thanks,

reyhan

 
At 8:29 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Reyhan,
They are the same. Only difference is between Turkish semolina and the semolina we buy from here is the size of the grain. Turkish semolina has larger grains.

 
At 5:48 AM, Anonymous Zuhal said...

Hi Binnur,

I love the recipes that you have put up for so many to use - with Revani, is it meant to be a little dry or is it meant to be more syrupy? I've made Revani but I found the semolina to be a little crunchy, is this wrong? Or is it meant to be like the yogurt tatlisi?

Thanks so much :)

 
At 1:08 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi Zuhal,
No, is this not wrong and it is not meant to be like the Yogurt Tatlisi:)

 
At 8:07 AM, Anonymous Aspa said...

Günaydın Binnur,

I`m from Greece and i really love your site!
As you may know, in Greece we are very familiar with turkish dishes, especially with desserts, so it wasn`t a problem for me to find the ingredients for Revani. The problem was that i couldn`t properly measure the ingredients, as the Revani mixture came so liquid. I finally "save" the dessert by adding more flour and semolina and the result was quite good, but i wanted to ask you:when you mean cup, you mean the cup where the tea is served? How many grams is a cup?
Thank you in advance Binnur, i`m waiting for your answer as i`m looking forward to repeat this delicious recipe!!!!!

 
At 12:55 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Merhaba Aspa,
I use a measurement a glass or plastic cup with a handle which you can find at the markets. One cup is equal to 250 ml. I have a measurement section on the right side of the website, please check it there.
I wish you a sweet weekend:)

 
At 10:04 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had a project I had to do in sixth grade; we had to research a country that we picked out of a hat. I chose Turkey, and nearly started crying. I cheered up a lot, however, when I saw what tasty treats Turkey had! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!

 
At 2:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is a fanastic recipe, and a family favorite! My husband, who is from Izmir, loves it! I also added my own little twist to the recipe. Instead of pistachios, I top the dessert off with whipping cream and strawberries!

 
At 12:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Binnur Hanim,

How many servings is this wonderful cake?

 
At 1:00 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi,
It is 9 servings:)

 
At 7:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If I omit the eggs, what can I substitute them with?

 
At 9:31 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi,
If you are allergic to eggs I think you can use only the white parts of the eggs. But you need to search for the substitute.
There may be other options for that:)

 
At 11:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi, one of the best revanis i've ever tried!easy,quick to make and very tasty.looking forward to trying more of your recipes.our warmest wishes for a happy 2013,with love from Greece

 
At 11:12 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Thank you:) Happy New Year!!

 
At 7:33 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

hi there, do i use plain flour or self raising? :)

 
At 8:02 AM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi,
I used all purpose flour for Revani:)

 
At 8:36 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Revani was an Ottoman poet.Revani left to posterity a collection of poems ( divan ) of Sultan Selim and the Mesnevi ʿ İşret Name / عشرت نامه ( the book of the wine festival). The İşretname scrutinizes the drinking culture in the Ottoman Empire ( Bacchic culture). He died in 1524 in Istanbul. This is what I found about Revani and still wonder why the cake was named after him : ))

 
At 9:57 AM, Blogger Binnur said...


Hi,
The "Revani" desert was first made by the cooks of Ottoman palace in honor of the conquest of Erivan. It is just a coincidence, I think :)

 
At 12:47 AM, Blogger anvasquez said...

I made this recipe before using your recipe. Is it supposed to be watery? It didn't come out as thick as the one for when I make baklava. Also is a half a lemon equal to about 4-5 drops?

 
At 12:38 PM, Blogger Binnur said...

Hi anvasquez,
My revani is not watery or dry. The cake absorbs all the syrup. 4-5 drops is much less than half a lemon

 

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