Anyone tried subsituting semolina for ground almonds

[christywhisty]

I used to make a lovely chocolate cake with ground almonds in. DS is allergic to tree nuts but would love to try it, so I wondered about using semolina instead of ground almonds. Some of the greek cakes we used to have when we were little had semolina in and I think it would give the same texture.

I've done it many times when I've not been able to afford ground almonds. I don't recall substituting 100% though... about 50/50 works best.

If you HAVE to use 100% semolina, then you would need to add a little almond essence to get the right smell/flavour.

My mother-in-law does this when we go over. I think it works well on the whole - though have to admit that when she does Bakewell Tart it just tastes - different (we don't use almond essence as I have always thought that this was a no-no for nut allergy sufferers - please tell me if I'm wrong).

Thanks I managed to get some semolina today so will have a go a the weekend.