Basboosa

A traditional Middle-Eastern cake, sometimes also called Namoura. It is extremely delicious and crumbly and made of semolina as the main base ingredient. There is a wide range of recipes out there for making it and differs greatly in all aspects. Few recipes make it with youghurt, few with milk and some do not add the coconut.

This recipe is spot on perfect for those of you with a sweet tooth. For all those vegans out there, happy news of No Eggs. The heavenly aroma of butter and ghee mix, and the taste of coconut is just mouth watering. I prefer adding yoghurt to the cake mix as compared to milk because the yoghurt gives that little tinge of sourness kick. So it’s just perfect!

Keep in mind that I use yoghurt here, and not curd. Curd that is normally available in India will be too sour and watery compared to the yoghurt which is common in Middle Eastern countries. Greek yoghurt is the best option.

So, there you go. Keep the sugar syrup ready before baking the cake. The syrup needs to be at room temperature and cake needs to be warm for the final step.

 The fat in the recipe calls for ¾ cup of butter but since I had only half the amount of butter at home, I substituted the other half with ghee and oil mix which was perfectly fine.

Once you get all your required ingredients, and make the mix, remember to leave it aside for 15-20 minutes to rest. The mix is nothing like that of a cake batter. It’s more like dough. So once the mix is made, line a baking dish with butter and put the mix in it. Pat it down with the back of a spoon and using a knife make the diamond or square cutting half way through the cake. Once it’s baked it becomes extremely crumbly and difficult to cut. Place the almonds on each piece.

Bake in the oven at 175°C for around 40-45 minutes or till sides turn brown and top crust gets a beautiful light golden color. Don’t let it get too brown as the almonds tend to get a scorched look then. Once the cake is out of the oven, pour the sugar syrup whilst the cake is still warm. Don’t worry if the syrup looks too much, I promise the cake will soak it all in.

 The cake can be stored, refrigerated and warmed again in a microwave before serving.

This recipe makes 20 pieces of the cake. One serving provides approximately 221 Calories.

Here is what you’ll need:

For the cake:

2 cups  fine semolina (rava)
½ cup unsweetened, desiccated coconut
½  cup  sugar 
¾ cup melted butter (at room temperature)
1  cup  yoghurt 
¾  tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt 
20 peeled almonds whole or halves

For the Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup  sugar
1  tbsp rose water
1 tsp lemon juice

Method:

1. Soak the almonds in warm water and peel them. Keep them in  water.
2. Preheat the oven  at 175°C.
3. Prepare the syrup by mixing all the ingredients for syrup and bringing it to a boil. Allow it to simmer for 5 minutes and switch off the flame and let it cool.
4. In a bowl, mix the semolina, salt, baking powder, sugar and desiccated coconut powder.
5. Pour in the melted butter and yoghurt and mix well.
6. Line a 10 inch baking pan with butter and set the mixture in. Cut the cake into diamonds and arrange the almonds on it.
7. Put the cake into the oven and let it cook for 40 minutes or until it turns golden brown.
8. Once the cake is out of the oven, pour the sugar syrup on the cake and let it cool for an hour before serving.

 Recipe by Zohra Sada