Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Kalb el Louz
A syrup-soaked semolina cake with an almond heart, fragrant with orange blossom, a jewel of the Algerian Ramadan table.
Algerian · medium · serves 12
prep 20 min · cook 45 min
~668 cal · 12g protein · 93g carbs · 29g fat · 6g fiber · 53g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kalb el louz, meaning heart of almond, is one of Algeria's most best-known sweets, especially during Ramadan. Its name comes from the layer of almonds at its centre, and it is prized for its soft, moist, intensely fragrant crumb.
A simple batter of coarse , sugar, and oil is layered with a filling of ground almonds and orange blossom, baked until golden, then, while still hot, drenched in a cold orange-blossom syrup that it drinks up completely. The result is a dense, syrup-soaked cake, gritty-soft from the and heady with blossom, cut into diamonds and served in small, rich pieces with mint tea.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 12
4 cups coarse
1 1/2 cups ground almonds
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup oil
3 tbsp
1 1/2 cups sugar (for syrup)
1/2 lemon (for the syrup)
12 whole almonds, to decorate
Instructions
1
Mix the semolina with the sugar, oil, and a little water and orange blossom, and rest so the semolina hydrates.
2
Press half into a tin, spread the sweetened ground almonds over, and top with the rest; mark into diamonds and press a whole blanched almond into each.
3
Bake at 350F (180C) until golden, about 40 minutes.
4
Boil the syrup sugar with water, the lemon, and orange blossom, cool, and pour cold over the hot cake to soak.
✎ Chef’s note
Cold syrup over hot cake is the trick: it soaks in evenly and keeps the crumb moist rather than gummy.
Algerian Ramadan tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Algiers. Algiers cooks Mediterranean-Maghreb food, couscous, chorba soup, and dolma, brightened by fresh vegetables and olive oil. French, Berber, and Ottoman layers meet in the white capital.
🗺️
Algeria. Almost the whole country is Sahara, roughly four fifths of it, and barely three per cent of the land is arable. That arable sliver is the Tell, the coastal band of hills and plains north of the Atlas ranges, where the cities, the wheat, the olives, the citrus and the vineyards all are, which is why an enormous country cooks like a Mediterranean one.
🌍
Africa. Much of what reads as timeless African cooking is younger than the Atlantic crossings. Maize, cassava, groundnut, chilli and tomato all arrived from the Americas after 1500 and pushed older crops aside; millet, sorghum, teff, yam and fonio are the ones that were already here, and the map still shows the join.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Algeria
Friday Couscous with Seven VegetablesSteamed couscous under a saffron-tinted vegetable stew, the meal that gathers Algerian families every Friday.
MsemenFlaky square semolina flatbreads folded in layers and griddled, served with honey or jam.
ChakhchoukhaTorn flatbread bathed in a spiced lamb, chickpea, and tomato sauce, an Algerian dish for gatherings.
Browse all Algeria recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Mould or tin.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it a Algeria meal
Chorba FrikDinner
Cherbet el LozDrink
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Frequently asked questions
What is Kalb el Louz?
A syrup-soaked semolina cake with an almond heart, fragrant with orange blossom, a jewel of the Algerian Ramadan table.
Where does Kalb el Louz come from?
Kalb el Louz is a Algerian dish from Algiers, Algeria.
Can Kalb el Louz be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kalb el Louz recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kalb el Louz safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kalb el Louz take to make?
About 65 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 12.
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