Basbousa - an eggless Middle Eastern moist cake-like sweet or dessert using semolina/suji/cream of wheat, baked and soaked in a sugar syrup, either flavored with orange blossom or rose water. The other names for it used in different parts of the middle east are “Harissa”, “ravani or revani” etc.
Different regions have their own method of making them, some use yogurt, some use only milk or condensed milk, some flavor the sugar syrup with cinnamon and some with either orange blossom water or rose syrup or essence and some use eggs.
The other ingredient used sometimes is coconut!! I love the flavor of coconut in any dish and adding this to basbousa gives it a lovely sweet coconutty flavor!!
My version of making it uses yogurt and dessicated dry coconut with rose extract in the syrup and completely egg free!!
I had first come across this Middle Eastern sweet while watching an Australian TV show and have wanted to try it ever since! It is an exotic baked version of our Indian Sheera or suji halwa.
Making it involves using only one bowl to mix, with no beaters needed!!
Once baked and soaked in rose flavored sugar syrup, it takes a lovely golden color with a tinge of lemon flavor and moistness you will love!!
Another similar dessert you will love which is equally tasty and comes from the Middle East, Turkey, Greece etc. is “Honey Baklava” (layers of crushed nuts, cushioned between phyllo dough sheets, baked and soaked in a honey-sugar syrup. You got to try that too.
Step-by-step method: (this was original recipe)
Please check the updated recipe made in round pan and with reduced sugar below; both work good.
- Grease a large baking pan (I used a 9 x 11 inch pan) with ghee or butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the 2 1/2 cups of semolina, 1 cup of unsweetened dessicated coconut, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup plain flour (optional), 1 teaspoon baking powder, pinch salt, 1/2 - 3/4 cup melted butter/ghee, 1/2 teaspoon rose essence and 1 cup yogurt.
- Mix well with your hands till the semolina is well coated and all the ingredients are well mixed.
- If you feel the mixture is too dry, add a few teaspoons of milk.
- Once it is thoroughly mixed, spoon the semolina mixture into the greased pan and spread it till the edges; make sure to smoothen the top well.
- Cover and keep aside for about 10 minutes for the flavors to blend well.
Meanwhile, let us prepare the sugar syrup:
- In a saucepan, heat the sugar (1 1/3 cups) and 1 cup water on medium till the sugar starts to melt, stirring continuously. Once the sugar has melted completely, lower the heat to medium low and simmer for about 5 minutes without stirring.
- After 5 minutes, remove from heat, stir in 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon rose essence/extract; keep aside to cool. You can add some orange or lemon zest too.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Centigrade.
- After the mixture has soaked well, cut the mixture into either square shapes or diamond shapes if using a square or rectangular pan.
- Place half a blanched almond on each cut diamond and press gently.
- Bake the semolina-coconut mixture in the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and immediately, pour the sugar syrup over the hot basbousa!!
- Make sure to cover the whole pan with the syrup. Initially you will think it is too much but trust me, it gets absorbed fully.
- Keep aside for at least 2 to 4 hours or even overnight for the syrup to soak through.
- Serve it either cold or at room temperature; refrigerate leftovers.
(Updated April 2022) MADE IT IN A ROUND PAN:
I was craving basbousa again and decided to make it in a round pan instead after coming across another beautiful way to cut it when using a round pan online
I had to try it. (you can check it out here)
As we get older, we tend to reduce or avoid sugar altogether (but cannot avoid in this one), so I reduced the amount of sugar in the cake (from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup) and omitted the flour totally.
I decreased the fat too; used 1/2 cup melted ghee instead of melted 3/4 cup butter and baked in a 9-inch round pan (grease and line with parchment paper) at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes. You can bake 30-40 minutes or until the top of basbousa turns light golden brown.
Pour hot sugar syrup (1 1/3 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, dash of rose extract and some orange zest; boil and then simmer for 5 minutes) over baked basbousa just out of the oven (pour all of it!) and let the syrup settle and be absorbed fully to set the bake.
Set aside at room temperature for a minimum of 3-4 hours or even overnight.
Slice and enjoy!
PRINT or SAVE:
Basbousa is a middle eastern cake like dessert or sweet, made with semolina, coconut and sugar, soaked in a rose flavored sugar syrup to give it a rich moist, exotic taste!!!
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups coarse suji/semolina/rava
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut powder or flakes (dried)
- 1/2-¾ cup castor sugar or powdered sugar
- ½ cup all purpose flour or maida (optional)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 1 cup thick yogurt
- ¾ cup melted butter (unsalted) or ghee
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract/essence
- Few almonds, blanched, peeled and halved
- 1 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon rose essence/extract
- Orange zest (optional)
Instructions
- Grease a large baking pan (I used a 9X11 inch pan) with ghee or butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the semolina, coconut, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, melted butter, vanilla essence and yogurt.
- Mix well with your hands till the semolina is well coated and all the ingredients are well mixed.
- If you feel the mixture is too dry, add a few teaspoons of milk.
- Once it is thoroughly mixed, spoon the semolina mixture into the greased pan and spread it till the edges; make sure to smoothen the top well.
- Cover and keep aside for about 15 minutes to half an hour for the flavors to blend well.
- In a saucepan, heat the sugar and water on medium till the sugar starts to melt, stirring continuously. Once the sugar has melted completely, lower the heat to medium low and simmer for about 5 minutes without stirring.
- After 5 minutes, remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice and rose essence; keep aside to cool.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Centigrade.
- After 30 minutes of soaking, cut the mixture into either square shapes or diamond shapes.
- Place half a blanched almond on each cut diamond and press gently.
- Bake the semolina-coconut mixture in the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and immediately, pour the cold sugar syrup over the hot basbousa!!
- Make sure to cover the whole pan with the syrup.
- Keep aside for at least 2 to 4 hours or even overnight for the syrup to soak through.
- Serve it either cold or at room temperature; refrigerate leftovers.
Notes
For a lighter cake, you can reduce the semolina/suji to 2 cups.
You can avoid the flour in it totally too.
The second time I baked, I reduced the sugar in the bake to 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup; was just right for us. You can use either measurement, depending upon your level of sweetness.
For a different flavor, you can use a cinnamon stick in the sugar syrup.
Do check out my round bake too with less sugar, no flour, ghee instead of butter and increased baking powder in the main post.
Enjoy!
PIN for later:
If you like my posts and recipes, do not forget to Pin, Share, comment in the box below or like my Facebook page
Don’t forget to follow me on:
Facebook @ curryandvanilla
Pinterest @ curryandvanilla
Instagram @ curryandvanilla16
Twitter @ curryandvanilla
Google Plus @ Vanitha Bhat
Have fun cooking, eating and sharing!!!!
Such delicacies are always very tempting, but since these are all sugary items,one can only look at them admire them, but not eat them. Especially when one is Diabetic, we have to keep away from sugar. I wish such recipes can be modfied using Stevia, and also modified into a vegan sweet. Enjoy your sweet dishes as long as you can!!!
You forgot to include the butter in your instructions.
Thanks so much Lisa for pointing out this error 🙂 I have updated it!