Basbousa/Harissa/Namoura/ Semolina Cake is a middle eastern, Azerbaijani, North African, and Israeli dessert cuisine that originated from Egypt. Its main ingredient is semolina with some cream or yogurt. And essences such as rose or lemon extracts are added to give it a twist of Arabic taste and fragrance followed by the syrup on the top.
Basbousa is one of my best and most tried recipes. It is easily an effortless dessert to prepare. It's this one cake recipe that I'm very much confident about how it turns out and so on every occasion, I bake a big casserole of this delicious Arabic dessert. I'm so confident that I don't even need to measure the ingredients that I add. This is usually the first thing my guests taste that's made by me.
The store-bought basbousa is in my opinion the worst basbousa recipes. I wouldn't recommend the store-bought basbousa to anyone especially to those who are trying basbousa for the first time. The semolina grains are hard and a lot of sugar and coconut goes into it, making it too sweet to eat. One slab/piece of it is more than enough. The ingredients are cheap and too much essence is added in the batter. Tastes nothing more than a sugary-coconut-semolina mixture. Calling it the WORST dessert fail ever is not wrong and tossing the whole thing into the bin is the best idea, I don't care.
Contrarily, the ones you get in top-notch confectionaries and traditional Arabic dessert shops are the best version of basbousa. A lot of cream and eggs go into it and the semolina is just perfectly cooked with the right level of sweetness. These are comparatively more expensive than any basbousa you'll find in store. So in a nutshell, the key to choosing the perfect basboua is to buy the most expensive one from a renowned Arabic confectionary shop.
Now that I've guided with which basbousa to choose, let me also introduce MY recipe. Actually 2 recipes. One recipe is a lil cheaper one, while another has a richer taste. But don't worry there is only a slight difference in the ingredients as well as the taste. If you ask me, I'd recommend you to try both of them, but I personally prefer the one with cream.
Ingredients
For Basbousa batter
3 eggs
Recipe 1:
vegetable oil- 1 cup
Recipe 2: (for a creamier taste)
vegetable oil- 1/2 cup + 1 tin Nestle Cream (170 gm)
Milk- 1/4 cup
Fine Semolina- 1 cup
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Desiccated coconut- 4tbsp
Baking powder- 1 1/2 tsp
For Sugar syrup
Water- 1 cup
Sugar- 1/3 cup
Rosewater- 1tsp
Bake time: 35 mins
1. In a bowl add eggs, oil/cream, and milk. On medium speed blend it with an electric hand mixer or just whisk it.
2. Precisely measure the remaining dry ingredients and mix them in a separate bowl. Using a spoon gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while simultaneously whisking it until the perfect batter, without lumps is formed.
3. Now at this stage many people just pour it in the casserole and bake. But the trick to get a lil spongy basbousa, more or less like a cake consistency and without hard semolina grains is to leave it for 5-6 hrs or better still overnight. Just put a cling film on your bowl and leave it overnight in your fridge.
4. Now if you have kept it overnight, then you'll notice that the batter has thickened. It is because the semolina grains have absorbed the moisture so the batter is tighter. Simply add 2-3 tbsp of water just to loosen it. Next grease a casserole with oil and pour the batter evenly. Bake it for 35 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. When you see the top has slightly turned golden/ brown. that is when your basbousa is perfectly cooked. Pull it out and let it cool down.
5. Meanwhile in a saucepan, add the sugar syrup ingredients and cook on medium flame or until you see a lil thicker consistency of the syrup. Don't make it too thick, it should be only a lil thicker than water. May take around 5-7 mins on a medium-high flame to get the required consistency.
6. Make cuts on the basbousa, either squares or diamond-shaped. Now slowly and evenly pour the syrup on top of the cake such that the syrup reaches all the corners of the casserole.
7. Chop some almonds and garnish them on the top. Serve it with your favorite Arabic coffee or Qahwa
Gois! Ive put so much effort to bring the best version of this recipe to you and not to mention I thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog. So please if you tried this recipe, I'll be waiting for your feedback, comment, and let me know how it turned out. Also share your best basbousa recipes with everyone.
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