Burmese Semolina Cake

I bookmarked this recipe on a whim. It calls for half-and-half, so I used half lactose-free cream and half lactose-free milk, but you could use coconut milk instead of the cream and get an equivalent result. It was a bit of an odd dish in that it’s not like most desserts I know. The cake itself is almost bland and certainly not very sweet, so I recommend serving it with fruit or maybe lactose-free ice cream or some kind of sauce. That being said, it was very good and it was a great canvas for seasonal strawberries.

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine, melted, cooled slightly, divided
1¼ cups semolina flour (this is made from durum wheat; I haven’t tried it with corn)
1 large egg
1 14-oz. can coconut milk
1 ½ cups lactose-free half-and-half (see note above)
⅓ cup sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 °F. Grease an 8x8” baking dish.

Toast semolina in a large dry skillet over medium-high heat, stirring, until darkened and nutty-smelling, about 2 minutes. Let cool.

Whisk egg, coconut milk, half-and-half, sugar, salt, and 1 Tbsp. butter in a large saucepan. Gradually whisk in semolina and bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking, until mixture is very thick and pulls away from the sides of saucepan, about 4 minutes. Scrape batter into baking dish.

Bake cake until golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 45–50 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack. Brush cake with remaining 1 Tbsp. butter; let cool slightly. Serve with fruit or your preferred accompaniment.