Basbousa Recipe
What gives Basbousa the ‘aww’ factor is that it translates to ‘just a kiss’. It is a traditional cake from the middle east that uses just the right combination of semolina and lots of dairy products. The cake is topped with rose water, orange blossom water or normal syrup, giving it its distinct, royal flavours. They are typically cut in diamonds and served with dry fruits like cashew or almond adhered over each piece.
Basbousa Recipe
Ingredients:
For Toppings :
- 2 cup water
Recipe :
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Step 1 Prepare the light and heavy sugar syrup for the cake
To prepare this amazing dessert, there are two sugar syrups to be made for soaking the cake. First, let's prepare the light syrup. Mix 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 1/2 cup water, and 1 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan and put over medium-high heat. Bring it to a boil and ensure that the sugar melts completely. Set aside to cool off. Now, in another saucepan, add 1/3 cup sugar, 3 tbsp water, and 2 drops of lemon juice and put it over high heat. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the flame and let it cook for 5 minutes. Take off the flame when the syrup thickens and reduces to about ⅓ cup.
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Step 2 Preheat the oven and prepare the baking dish for the cake
Preheat the oven at 410 degrees F. Cover a 34 cm round pan using ghee. You can use any other baking dish if you don’t have a circular one. Set aside.
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Step 3 Make the Basbousa base
Now, mix semolina and ghee in a medium mixing bowl. Grind the desiccated coconut in the blender and make a fine powder. Mix with the semolina mixture and combine. In a microwave-safe mixing bowl, combine sugar, milk, and heavy sugar syrup. Heat for 1 and ½ minutes until warm. When the sugar dissolves completely, pour the syrup over the semolina mixture and just combine. Don’t mix vigorously.
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Step 4 Add the cake batter to the greased baking pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes
Transfer the cake batter to the pre-greased pan. Put it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. The mixture shouldn’t jiggle when shaking the pan. Top it with mixed chopped nuts.
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Step 5 Bake the cake for 25-27 minutes
After 20 minutes, take out the baking pan and bake the cake in a preheated oven for 25-27 minutes until golden brown.
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Step 6 Pour the light sugar syrup into the Basbousa
Pour the light sugar syrup as soon as the Basbousa comes out of the oven. When it is nicely soaked in, brush the cake’s surface with ghee.
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Step 7 Cut into the desired shape and serve with fresh cream
When the cake cools off, cut into squares or diamonds and serve topped with fresh cream and granulated sugar.
Tips :
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Use medium-grained semolina but a nice, sandy texture instead of a coarse or finely ground one.
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Don’t substitute butter for ghee in this recipe as it can badly impact the texture of the Basbousa.
