Basbousa

Basbousa

Basbousa !!!! Arabian and Eastern Mediterranean sweet semolina cake soaked in orange blossom water or rose water flavored sugar syrup .. In Arab countries it is known as Basbousa or Harissa , while in Turkey and Greece , known as Revani or Ravani , in Armenia it is Shamali. Like the various names , this sweet dish has many variations in ingredients too . Sometimes coconut is used for additional flavor . Some uses yogurt , some uses milk instead of yogurt , like Libyan basbousa . Some uses Only Farina or semolina , whereas some uses semolina and flour both . Condensed milk is seen in many recipes , it gives a fudge like taste . basbousa made with yogurt is denser than the basbousa made with milk .
Here you go with Arabic Basbousa !!! Just tried to keep the authentic flavor !!!

Ingredients :

For cake :

1 and 3/4 th cup of sooji/ semolina
1/4 th cup flour
2 eggs
3/4 th cup melted butter
3/4 th cup sugar
1 cup of yogurt
1 tea spoon baking powder
1/2 cup of desiccated coconut ( optional)
Few drops of vanilla essence ( optional)
Blanched almond

For the sugar syrup:

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1 tea spoon lemon juice
2 tea spoon rose water

Procedure :

1. Pre-heat the oven to 360 FH .

2. Combine all the ingredients for cake and beat with the electric hand beater until incorporated . You can mix all the ingredients wth a whisk too.

3. Grease a pan and pour the batter . Give the cut mark in the shape of square or diamond and place one almond on each square or diamond .

4. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30- 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean .

5. While the cake is in the oven , make the sugar syrup with 1 cup of sugar , 1 cup of water , 1 tea spoon lemon juice and 2 tsp of rose water . Boil for 10-12 minutes on medium flame . It will thicken a bit but not too thick . Must have the pouring consistency .

6. After taking out the cake from the oven , pour half of the warm syrup all over the hot cake and save the remaining half . Put the cake back in the oven and bake for another 5 minutes . Now after taking out from the oven , pour the remaining syrup all over the cake .

Enjoy hot or room temperature . I found it yummier when cooled down . 🙂

Tips :

1. Sometimes it happens , you will not get the golden color on the top , even when your cake is ready . So To get that golden color on the top , I broiled at the same temperature for 5 minutes . And every 2 minutes , I rotated the pan , so that the color is even . Varying on the oven and power distribution the time may vary , even you may not need to broil it for the color . 🙂 But be careful , don’t burn the cake . It should be done before you pour the syrup and re-bake for 5 minutes .I got a very nice golden color and little crisp crust with soft , spongy inside . 🙂