Basbousa
Egypt and the Arab world's beloved semolina cake — dense, sweet, finely textured and soaked in a rose-water and orange blossom sugar syrup immediately after baking. Made with yogurt and topped with whole almonds.
- Total
- 50 min
- Serves
- 12
- Level
- Easy
Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min
Ingredients
Method
Make syrup first: boil sugar and water together for 5 minutes. Add lemon juice, rose water and orange blossom water. Set aside to cool — it must be cold or room-temperature when poured over the hot cake.
About 5 min
Mix semolina, sugar, baking powder and vanilla. Add melted butter and yogurt. Stir to a thick, uniform batter. It will seem very stiff.
About 14 min
Spread evenly into a greased 30×20 cm baking pan, pressing to smooth the top. Score into diamond shapes (before baking). Press a whole almond into the centre of each diamond.
About 14 min
Bake at 180°C/350°F for 25–30 minutes until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean. The edges will pull slightly from the pan.
About 14 min
Immediately upon removing from the oven, pour the cold syrup evenly all over the hot cake. You will hear hissing — this is correct. Let the syrup absorb completely (at least 20–30 minutes) before cutting along the pre-scored lines.
About 3 min
Nutrition per serving (estimate)
- Calories
- 310
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 34 g
- Sodium
- 90 mg
Contains: gluten, dairy, nuts
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Recipe by Boon Tools.