Semolina cake – Basbousa
“Bass!” was the word I always heard when I tried to steal some of the hot cake. “Bass, uläääh!” – I tried anyway, of course. The expression “Bass!” in this case has nothing to do with an acoustic pressure wave or the name of this delicious semolina cake called Basbousa, but means something like “Leave it!” and “Uläääh” is an expression you use when you mean a male fellow human being and want to insult him. Uh oh!
I wonder if the inventor of this semolina cake wanted to tell a child called Bousa [Buhßa] to leave the cake alone? And someone else might have thought at that moment that the cake was called that? “Bass Buhßa!!!” Hm… who knows?!
In any case, semolina cake is very tasty and it is very desirable to steal it from the windowsill. Or, you can just bake the cake yourself. Basbousa is not only very tasty, but also very easy to prepare. A little semolina, some coconut flakes, a dollop of yogurt – that’s about it. Did I forget anything? Oh yes: sugar syrup! A whole lot of sugar syrup! But believe me, the cake will still not be too sweet – but incredibly juicy and tender. Of course, the perfume of Arabic desserts must not be missing: Rose water.
But be careful: don’t leave the window open when cooling down! The scent will definitely attract fans… “Bass!” 😛
Recipe for Basbousa
Equipment
Ingredients
For the semolina cake
- 300 g Durum wheat semolina
- 100 g Soft wheat semolina
- 100 g Sugar
- 100 g Coconut flakes
- 150 g Butter melted
- 250 g Yogurt (natural, 3.5%)
- 20 blanched almonds
- 2 Eggs
- 2 TSP Vanilla extract
- 2 TSP Baking powder
- 1 Lemon Grate peel
- 1 pinch Salt
For the syrup
- 200 ml Water
- 200 g Sugar
- 1 TBSP Rose water
- 1 TSP Lemon juice
Zubereitung
Syrup
- Mix the sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved.
- Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the rose water and leave the syrup to cool.
Basbousa
- Put the semolina, baking powder, sugar, grated coconut and salt in a bowl and mix everything together.
- Add the yoghurt, butter, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla extract and mix to a light batter.
- Pour the batter into the cake tin and place in the fridge for approx. 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C.
- The semolina cake has set a little in the fridge and you can now cut it into squares.
- Press a blanched almond into the centre of each square (blanch = boil almond briefly in water, rinse in cold water and remove skin).
- Place the semolina cake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
- After the cake has finished baking, immediately baste it with the cooled syrup and leave it to infuse for 1 hour.
- Optionally, you can sprinkle the cake with a few coconut flakes.
Notes
Nährwerte
Also try the delicious baklava cheesecake.
