Gers Ogaily

About This Recipe

Gers Ogaily is the quintessential Kuwaiti home-baked cake, made for tea time, celebrations, and the holy month of Ramadan. 'Gers' means disc or round cake, and 'ogaily' references its ancestral Najdi origins. The batter is a generous combination of eggs, sugar, oil, and flour perfumed with the Gulf's favourite flavours — saffron dissolved in rose water, green cardamom, and a little vanilla — then poured into a round tin and scattered with sesame seeds before baking. The result is a dense, moist cake with a brilliantly golden crumb from the saffron and a perfume that fills the entire kitchen. It is sliced and served with unsweetened Arabic coffee (gahwa) or strong black tea.

Ingredients

Serves 12

• 3 largeeggs
• 1.5 cupscaster sugar
• 1 cupvegetable oil
• 1 tspsaffron threads, bloomed in 2 tbsp rose water
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• 1 tspground cardamom
• 2 cupsplain flour
• 1 tspbaking powder
• ½ tspsalt
• ½ cupwhole milk
• 2 tbspsesame seeds (for topping)

Instructions

1. 1

   Bloom the saffron

   Crush saffron threads between your fingers and dissolve in 2 tablespoons of warm rose water. Let it steep for 10 minutes until the water turns deeply golden.

2. 2

   Mix wet ingredients

   In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar for 3 minutes until pale and slightly fluffy. Gradually pour in oil while whisking. Add the saffron rose water, vanilla, and cardamom. Mix well.

3. 3

   Add dry ingredients

   Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternately fold the flour mixture and milk into the wet ingredients in three additions, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until smooth — do not overwork.

4. 4

   Bake

   Pour batter into a greased and floured 23 cm round cake tin or a 20 cm square tin. Scatter sesame seeds evenly over the top. Bake at 175 °C for 38–42 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean and the top is deep golden.

5. 5

   Cool and serve

   Cool in the tin 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack. Serve at room temperature, sliced into wedges, with Arabic coffee or tea.

Variations

• •

  Add 2 tbsp nigella seeds (habbatus sauda) to the batter for a traditional medicinal touch.

• •

  Replace milk with condensed milk for a richer, denser cake.

• •

  Sprinkle crushed pistachios over the sesame seeds.

• •

  Vegetarian: swap the protein for roasted king oyster mushrooms, smoked tofu or cooked chickpeas — adjust seasoning slightly upward to compensate.

Storage

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or refrigerate for up to 1 week. Freezes well for 2 months — wrap tightly in cling film.

Frequently Asked Questions