Rabat – If you are a tourist with friends in Morocco, there is a high chance that you have come across or been generously served — if you are lucky enough to have been hosted by a Moroccan family — the country’s famous homemade cake.
As a Moroccan, I have come across the famous cake maybe 10 or 20,000 or a million times during my life whether at home on different occasions or elsewhere served at a family or friend event.
Most – if not all — Moroccan women know how to prepare the famous homemade cake served in almost every event from Eids (religious festivals) to wedding parties and other similar occasions. No gender discrimination is meant here, as culinary-enthusiast men could be also familiar with the ingredient and the making of the famous cake.
The taste and shape of the cake could differ but the ingredients are mostly the same. By the way, the cake’s ingredients are not peculiar to Morocco, but it is definitely a cake that is different from other cakes sold in pastries. In some discreet old medinas across Morocco, there are shops that sell the famous homemade cakes.
Ingredients
The ingredients to make the famous cake are really available at any store across the country. 
You will only need:
4 eggs
1 bowl or two teacups of pastry flour
1 (tea) cup of granulated sugar
2 pinches of lime skin
1 pinch of salt
2 baking powder (8 grams each)
1 vanilla powder
1 vanilla yogurt
1 cup of orange juice
1 teacup of cooking oil (make sure it is not completely full and not half the cup)
Note: When putting the teacups to measure the ingredients, I am thinking of the cups Moroccans know as “kass el a’nba,” the “grape cup.”
It might sound awkward to you, but this is how a traditional Moroccan cook could measure the ingredient.
Here is a photo of what kass el a’nba looks like.
Keep it easy and simple
Making a famous cake is as simple as its ingredients. You will only need a bowl in which you will whisk the ingredients and a whisker to stir the whole thing.
I usually choose the traditional way and stir the mixture with the whisker, but you can make it easier for yourself and use the electric blender to save time.
So in the bowl, put a pinch of salt and break the eggs, and beat them all together as hard as possible. When the color of your mixed eggs is nearly white, add the granulated sugar and beat it again.
Put the lime skin scratches and add the vanilla yogurt and powder to the mixture and stir them all together.
Next comes the juice and oil. Now stir, beat, mix and mix it all together…
After having a well-mixed liquid, add your baking powder with the flour mix all together before adding to the cake mixture.
In Morocco, there is a very specific cake pan that is commonly used across the country (see picture below).
Add the flour and the baking powder to the liquid little by little and blend harder. Once you reach a sticky and nearly heavy batter, you are good!
This is the traditional way to prepare the cake.
Now prepare your cake pan to host your cake. Before pouring the batter, make sure you put butter and paint your cake pan with it. Later, use a pinch of flour and put it all over the pan. Don’t put too much, you will have to only put some so your batter won’t stick to the pan when cooking.
Put your cake at a temperature between 180 and 200 degrees Celcius, and don’t open the oven frequently because the cake might lose its volume while cooking.
It is preferable to keep your cake in the oven for a period ranging between 50 minutes to 1 hour. Just make sure to not open the oven many times. However, you will have to make sure you are attentive enough to not lose your cake to oven crimes.
You could make it fun and add some chocolate chips to your cake for a more unique flavor. But it is definitely worth it to try the basic cake without additions in a morning breakfast with the famous Moroccan mint tea or a cup of milk during snack time in the evening.
Even without chocolate chips, the cake could be a delight if you happen to add strawberry jam as a topping when it’s fully cooked.
Bon appetit!
