There’s an Israeli Espresso- Bar chain called “Aroma”. When we lived in Israel we loved going there because you could always get a nice cup of coffee, a sandwich and even a real good breakfast. There are branches in Canada but not in Halifax and so this cake is my go-to cake whenever I crave “Aroma Espresso Bar”
Among other things we liked there, they had a cake I adored. It was so tasty, juicy, soft and sweet with flavors of lemon and orange in it – it was just GOOD.A few years ago I decided I’ll try to make this cake. I tried different recipes and after a few trials I finally got it – the perfect recipe that resembles this cake I liked so much.
It’s a wheat semolina cake with coconut, oranges and lemon syrup and the best thing about it is that it gets better with time. You’re going to like it the first day but really love it on the second day. It’s easy to make, stays fresh for about 5-7 days (covered of course) and has a fresh taste. Just perfect!
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup wheat semolina
- 1 cup coconut (shredded)
- 2 tsp (flat) baking powder
- 4 eggs (divided into egg whites and yolks)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup orange juice
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- Coconut for sprinkling
- Cinnamon for sprinkling
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- Squeezed juice form ½ lemon
- Preheat oven to 300F (150C)
- Brush cake pan with butter/oil and spread flour on it or cover with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, wheat semolina, coconut, baking powder)
- In a mixer bowl beat egg whites and sugar until they form stiff white foam with peaks.
- In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients (egg yolks, vanilla extract, orange juice, oil)
- Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix well until combined
- Add egg foam into cake mix and using a wooden spoon fold gently into the mix until fully combined.
- Pour the mix into the cake pan, sprinkle with cinnamon and place in the pre-heated oven for about 30-40 minutes or until cake is golden brown and a toothpick you test it with, comes out dry. Let the cake cool.
- While it’s cooling, poke a few holes using a skewer. This will allow the syrup to be absorbed better and faster.
- To prepare the syrup, boil the syrup ingredients over medium heat while stirring until sugar melts.
- Pour hot syrup over cool (room temperature) cake using a ladle or a big salad spoon. Make sure you pour the syrup evenly all over the cake.
- To top the cake, generously sprinkle with finely shredded coconut.
hi maya
i love aroma cafe coconut orange cake, its dense, moist and so tasty
i live in toronto and there is a couple of aroma café, thank you for posting the recipe but iam little confused about the wheat semolina, can you tell the brand you use because there is many semolina products.
thank you
Meryem
You’re welcome Meryem!
The Semolina I use is by “Cedar” and it’s Semilna #2.
I also recently bought semolina at “Bulk Barn” here (not sure if you have it in TO but maybe an equivalent?) and they call it wheatlet,so I guess it depends where you get it.
It basically needs to be very fine.
I hope this helps but if you have any additional questions I’m here 🙂
Let me know how it turned out!
I am eating this very cake right now (bought from Aroma in Toronto) and thought I must have this recipe! I did a search and your recipe came up – thanks so much for sharing it!
My pleasure! I love this cake so much! I had to do something about it 🙂
hi, this recipe looks incredible, ill try it this week.
Also i wanted to ask …do you have any copy cat recipes for the great bread from Aroma Espresso bar, i just cant find any that workes.
Please, help me if somebody knows some recipe for that great delicate bread!!!
Hi Claire,
this recipe is so good, try it and I’m sure you’ll love it.
As for the bread, I know what you mean 🙂 it’s so so good! I haven’t tried recreating it unfortunately.
I believe they use baking enhancing ingredients which I don’t normally use, but you know what? I’ll take this challenge upon me to create a healthier homemade version 🙂
Mine wasnt as soft and moist as aromas 🙁
Maybe more syrup on top or a finely ground wheat semolina?
In any case, I’m sure it turned out delicious 🙂
Awesome recipe! it came out very nice
Thanks! it’s one of my favorites too! so refreshing 🙂
Me and my husband just discovered aroma and also loved this cake! Very excited to try baking it at home..Would you recommend using fresh orange juice? Or one of the common boxed brands available? And if boxed, then should it have low pulp, no pulp..?
I used freshly squeezed juice but you can definitely use the boxed ones. I’d go with no pulp at all. Let me know if you liked it 🙂