Halva with lemon (semolina pudding with lemon)

Try this more exotic version of traditional halva!

Ingredients

-3 cups of milk (full fat)

-2 stripes of lemon peel (the yellow part only)

-1 cinnamon stick

-½ cup of sugar

-2/3 cup of fine semolina flour

-2 ½ spoonfuls of defrosted butter

-4 eggs (3 egg whites & 1 whole)

-1 cup fresh melted anari, unsalted

-zest from 2 lemons + 5 tbsps lemon juice

-2 tbsps orange liqueur (or lemon syrup)

-olive oil + 1-2 tbsps breadcrumbs (for the baking pan)

-powdered sugar for the topping (optionally)

Method

-Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

-Step 2:

Grease a baking pan with a wire diameter of spring approximately 23cm and sprinkle inside with breadcrumbs. Turn it over and then put it on the fridge until you need it.

-Step 3:

Put the milk, the lemon strips, the cinnamon stick and the sugar in a stainless pot and stir until the sugar is melted. Remove it from fire and take the cinnamon sticks and the lemon strips off the mixture.

-Step 4:

Then add semolina and stir well with a wire. Put the pot again to the fire (low heat) and continue stirring for approximately 5 minutes until boiling.

-Step 5:

Remove the pot from fire, put the butter and stir well until melt. Let the mixture cool. In a small bowl stir the 3 egg yolks and the 1 whole egg to mingle and then stir with the cold semolina mixture.

-Step 6:

In another larger bowl beat with a mixer the anari, the lemon zest, the lemon juice and the liqueur until it becomes a smooth mixture. Very carefully, slowly add semolina and continue to beat until the mixture is homogeneous.

-Step 7:

Beat in another bowl the egg whites until stiff. Empty the meringue in the bowl with the semolina mixture and stir gently. Put the mixture in the frozen baking pan and bake the halva to the oven for about 50 minutes.

-Step 8:

Remove halva from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes before remove it from the baking pan.

-Step 9:

Turn the halva over onto a cake platter and dust with powdered sugar (optionally).