Basbousa- An Arabian dessert

I never knew that something like basbousa ever existed till I saw cookery show in TV and I liked the end result (the cake after coming out of the oven), but as I didn’t see the show from start, I didn’t know what are the ingredients which went into this delicious dessert. The next moment I googled and got so many recipes for this.

Basbousa is an Egyptian dessert which can be made without any effort and with less ingredients. The main ingredient is semolina. Adding of sugar syrup will induce the cake to be soft and full of flavors. Lemon juice is added so that it will prevent the sugar from crystallizing. 

This is found in eastern Mediterranean cuisines under different varieties of names. This is such a rich cake, very moist and exceptional too.

Adapted from Arabic Food:

Ingredients:

1. Semolina- 2cups
2. Sugar- 1cup
3. Coconut flakes- 1cup
4. Butter- ½ cup
5. Milk- 1cup
6. Yogurt- ½ tbsp
7. Slivered Almonds- ½ cup

Sugar Syrup:

1. Sugar- ½ cup
2. Water- ½ cup
3. Butter- 1tbsp
4. Lemon juice- 1tbsp
5. Rose essence- 2-3 drops

Method:

1. Place the sugar, water, rose essence, butter and lemon juice and let it boil for 5- 8 minutes till the sugar gets dissolved. Allow it to cool.
2. In a bowl, mix sugar, coconut flakes and semolina well.
3. Boil the milk and butter in a vessel and keep it aside.
4. Add the semolina mixture and yogurt. Mix well till everything is blended well.
5. Grease a baking tray and pour the above mixture into the tray and spread it with the back of a spoon evenly.
6. Bake for about 30 - 35 minutes in a preheated oven of 180degrees C or until it turns golden brown.
7. When it is done, remove from oven and distribute the roasted almonds  on top of the basboussa at equal distances, so that when you cut into pieces each piece has an almond topping in the centre.
8. Keep this for about 10- 15 minutes and slowly pour the cooled sugar syrup over the hot cake. Let the cake soak the syrup and let it completely cool.
9. Cut this into diamond or a desired shape and serve.

I am sending this to Valentine’s day event.