• 400 g (14 oz) sugar
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
• about 4 cloves
• juice of half a lemon
• 250 g (9 oz) butter
• 350 g (12 oz) fine semolina
• 115 g (1 cup) coarsely ground walnuts

Lightly butter a bundt pan or 11 × 18 × 7 cm (5 × 7 × 3 inch) cake tin. To make the syrup, put the sugar, cinnamon, cloves, lemon juice and 1 litre (4 cups) of water in a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until syrupy. Remove from the heat.

Melt the butter in a large wide saucepan over medium heat and then cook for 3–4 minutes until it starts to turn golden and smells beautifully buttery (this is important for the final taste of the halva). Add the semolina and mix in well with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking for about 10 minutes, stirring and turning the semolina almost continuously so that it turns golden brown and doesn’t burn. Add the nuts and cook for about 5 minutes, until they seem to have taken on a colour and the mixture smells nutty and buttery. Remove from the heat.

Return the syrup to the stove for a minute to heat through. Scoop out and discard the cloves. Carefully pour the hot syrup into the semolina (standing back a bit as it will splash up). The mixture will thicken in the pan, so stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until it comes away from the side of the pan. As it starts to look like a smooth thick porridge, pour it into the cake tin. Leave to cool completely, before turning out onto a plate. Serve in slices, sprinkled with a little extra cinnamon if you like.