morsels45

morsels45 said

Basbousa

Semolina cake soaked in syrup while it is still hot.

Basbousa
Photo: stu_spivack, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. A photo of the dish, not of these exact recipes.

That was somebody else’s answer. Yours takes about twenty seconds: a handful of either-ors, then one dish.

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How to make basbousa

2 genuinely different takes — a classic, and a faster or lighter route. The same ones the app hands you once you have decided.

Syrup while hot

50 minutes · serves 12 · Very easy

What you need

  • 300g coarse semolina
  • 150g sugar
  • 200g yoghurt
  • 120g butter, melted
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 80g desiccated coconut
  • Almonds
  • For the syrup: 250g sugar, 200ml water, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp rose water

What you do

  1. 1Make the syrup first and let it cool completely. Hot cake and cold syrup is the rule — the other way round and it sits on top instead of soaking in.
  2. 2Mix everything else and spread it in a buttered tin. Rest 15 minutes so the semolina drinks.
  3. 3Score it into diamonds before baking and press an almond into each.
  4. 4Bake at 180C for 30 minutes until deep gold at the edges.
  5. 5Pour the cold syrup over the moment it leaves the oven. It will hiss. Leave it 2 hours before cutting through the scores.

With coconut only

45 minutes · serves 12 · Very easy

What you need

  • 300g semolina
  • 150g coconut
  • Yoghurt
  • Butter
  • Sugar syrup

What you do

  1. 1Same method, more coconut and no almonds.
  2. 2Cold syrup over hot cake, rest 2 hours.