It has been a while since I shared a dessert recipe here on the blog, so much for challenging myself to more baking! So, how about a little basbousa? Basbousa is an Egyptian semolina cake drenched in syrup. Today, I’m sharing my aunt Maha’s special recipe!
It’s Easter weekend. Definitely the time when our minds are busy with egg-cellent recipes and ham or lamb dinners, am I right? In case you missed them, two of my favorite egg recipes are: shakshuka and this easy Mediterranean egg casserole. As far as lamb goes, I admit, I can’t quite decide on one; braised lamb chops, lamb rack, or leg of lamb? What have you decided on for your Easter dinner?
And for dessert?
Semolina treats are popular throughout the Middle East and parts of Europe. There are, quite frankly, too many semolina cake variations out there. Some recipes call for eggs, others call for yogurt. Some use a honey-based syrup, others use a sugar-based syrup. Some syrups are flavored with citrus like orange or tangerine peels, and others use spices like cinnamon or cloves. All semolina treats I have tried are pretty good, but my aunt Maha’s basbousa is my absolute favorite!
The date was July 18, 2014 when aunt Maha graciously e-mailed me her recipe for basbousa (semolina cake drenched in syrup). This is among her specialty dishes that I have counted on enjoying every time we visit her home in Toronto. And because we were not going back for a while, I asked for the recipe so that I can make it for my family and friends in Iowa. Ask and you shall receive!
I don’t know why it took me this long to share this basbousa recipe on the blog. There are two theories behind my reluctance: my selfish desire to keep the recipe all to myself; or, that I am, subconsciously of course, extremely fearful that aunt Maha would not approve of me circulating her recipe. After all, this is a family recipe that she has kept close for years. And here I am, in just a few strokes of the keyboard, making it available to all! Then again, aunt Maha is one of the kindest most generous people I know. She would understand that this is for a greater good.
I have tweaked things slightly, but this remains aunt Maha’s authentic Egyptian basbousa recipe. This is my kind of fuss-free dessert that yields impressive results. I hope you try it soon!
Remember to pin this recipe and share it with loved ones.
Here is the step-by-step for this basbousa (semolina cake):
(print-friendly recipe to follow)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the butter in a small bowl and melt in the microwave. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine together the sugar and yogurt. Now add in the semolina, baking powder and milk. Finally stir in the melted butter, and let the mixture sit briefly so that the butter is absorbed.
Transfer the semolina mixture into a lightly greased 9″-round cake pan or baking dish.
Bake in the 350 degrees F heated-oven for about 40-45 minutes. If necessary, broil ever so briefly so that the top of the basbousa gains color. Watch carefully. When ready, remove from oven.
While the basbousa is baking, prepare the cinnamon simple syrup. In a small sauce pan or pot, combine the sugar, water and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil on high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Turn heat to low and let cook for a few minutes until the syrup thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Let cool completely, then remove the cinnamon stick.
As soon as the basbousa is removed from the oven, pour the cool syrup on the hot basbousa. Let cool completely; syrup must be absorbed into the cake. For best result, let it sit for 1 hour before serving.
When ready to server, top the cake with the coconut chips and the coconut and shaved almonds. Slice and enjoy!
Basbousa: Almond Coconut Semolina Cake Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: serves 8 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Basbousa is an Egyptian semolina cake drenched in syrup. Today, I’m sharing my aunt Maha’s special recipe!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 cup fine semolina PLUS 1 cup coarse semolina (or 2 cups coarse semolina or 2 cups original Cream of Wheat enriched farina)
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut or coconut chips
- 1/4 cup shaved almonds
Cinnamon Simple Syrup:
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 1 short cinnamon stick
- 1/4 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the butter in a small bowl and melt in the microwave. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine together the sugar and yogurt. Now add in the semolina, baking powder and milk. Finally stir in the melted butter, and let the mixture sit briefly so that the butter is absorbed.
- Transfer the semolina mixture into a lightly greased 9″-round cake pan or baking dish. Bake in the 350 degrees F-heated oven for about 40-45 minutes. If necessary, broil ever so briefly so that the top of the basbousa gains color. Watch carefully. When ready, remove from oven.
- While the cake is baking, prepare the cinnamon simple syrup. In a small sauce pan or pot, combine the sugar, water and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil on high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Turn heat to low and let cook for a few minutes until the syrup thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Let cool completely, then remove the cinnamon stick.
- As soon as the basbousa is removed from the oven, pour the cool syrup on the hot basbousa. Let cool completely; syrup must be absorbed into the cake. For best result, let it sit for 1 hour before serving.
- When ready to serve, top the cake with the coconut chips and the coconut and shaved almonds. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- Cooking tip: Allow cinnamon simple syrup to cool completely before pouring it onto the hot basbousa
- Cooking tip: For best results, let Basbousa sit for 1 hour before serving. This allows for the syrup to be absorbed into the cake.
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- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keywords: Basbousa, Semolina Cake, Coconut Semolina, Almond Coconut Cake, Cake, Sweets
More Dessert Recipes:
Greek Yogurt Parfait with Kahlua and Nuts
Hi Suzy, I’m so excited to try this cake out as soon as possible. I prefer my desserts to be moderately sweet and so would like to know if it would be okay to reduce the sugar added to the cake part of the recipe, so that the syrup balances everything. I’m a bit concerned that the finished cake would be too sweet for my liking. Thanks 🙂
Hi Neha, if you’re not much of a sweet tooth, then yes, I think reducing the sugar a bit would be a good idea. Enjoy!
Just made this for a huge group and it was awesome. Multiplied it by 16 and used all fine semolina. Love this! Thank you.
★★★★★
Wonderful, Suzanne! So glad you all enjoyed it!
Does it become over sweety when I add sugar in cake batter followed by sugar syrup
★★★★★
Hi there, it is meant to be a sweet cake drenched in the honey syrup. If that’s a big concern for you, you can add only 1/2 of the syrup and see.
Can I use Greek yoghurt for this recipe?
Hi Malisha…You can, although it’s best to use plain regular yogurt only because Greek yogurt is a lot thicker.
Thanks for the recipe. My wife is Greek, and we liked the food mediterranea.
Great! Enjoy!
Hi! Thank you so much for this recipe. 🙂 can I use fine semolina entirely?
Yes! You absolutely can. Enjoy!
Hi Suzy
I’m not entirely sure why this post has escaped my radar! As we’re cutting down on gluten in this house this is perfect. I’m sure I could make this with five grain polenta rather than semolina.
I actually love these sort of cakes that are sticky sweet, rather than full of buttercream.
What a great idea to try five grain polenta, David! This is my favorite cake…I love it drenched in syrup!!! Enjoy!
Hi David! Basbousa is my absolute favorite cake! I hope you love it!
Hi there, this came out rathef tasty. I however did face a small challange. Like you instructed, I took out the hot basbousa frm the oven and poured the cooled sugar syrup and allowed it to cool.
When I tried to undish it out of the baking pot, it would not move an inch. I had to eventually break it to dish it out. How can I take the whole round basbousa out of the baking dish without breaking it.
★★★★
Bissie, thanks so much for sharing! I’m glad you found the basbousa tasty. So, as instructed at the very end of the step-by-step, when the basbousa is ready, after it absorbed the syrup, you simply top it with the coconut topping then slice and serve it by the slice. You do not actually “undish” the whole basbousa cake onto a serving plate…it is sticky as you experienced, and comes out one slice at a time as you see in the pictures. Hope this helps.
Hi I am from India and while looking for recipes to use up some extra semolina I came across yours. I tried it and everyone in my family loved it!! The only problem was that it had become too soggy. It was only after a day that it dried out to the texture that was manageable but by that time only a couple of pieces were left ?. What i want to know is the actual quantity of syrup that should be poured onto the cake?
Hi Bindu! Thanks for stopping in!!! So this cake is supposed to be quite drenched in syrup…and it does break apart easily. You are supposed to use all the syrup, pour on the hot cake and leave it for at least 1 hour so that the cake will completely soak the syrup in. It is messy…by sounds like your family enjoyed it. It’s a favorite of ours!
Hi Suzy, can i use maple syrup instead of making sugar syrup?
Hi Maisah, I know you received my answer by e-mail, but I’ll answer here again for the sake of others. For this particular recipe, I highly recommend making the simple cinnamon syrup as opposed to using maple syrup. This cake is drenched in a lot of syrup, and maple syrup is fairly strong in flavor.
Quick Question….You pour the syrup on the cake while it’s still in the pan, and then let it sit for an hour or so, and then you flip it out upside down (from the 9-inch pan), and then you have to flip it again to be right side up, right?
Is it a bad idea just to get it out of the pan immediately after baking and before putting the syrup on it to avoid flipping it around covered in syrup? Otherwise, I’d probably have to keep it in the pan (as it is not springform).
Thanks—
Hi Julie, yes, the syrup goes on the cake immediately when you take it out of the oven. So yes, it remains in the pan. Enjoy!
Hi Suzy,
The cake looks amazing and I really want to try it out. Only I cudn’t find all fine semolina. Would it be okay if I use coarse semolina? Would there be any changes required in the recipe?
Deepti…thank you for your question. I am sorry that I haven’t been able to reply as quickly as I could to comments. Yes, you can use coarse semolina instead. No changes necessary 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It looks divine and must taste scrumptious. I have a work-do next week whereby we all need to bake, and now seeing this simple recipe, with an easy step by step plan, with pictures. It has now put me at ease.
★★★★
Shaila…glad you found this recipe! And hope it turned out great for you. Thanks for taking the time to share! And do stop by again 🙂
Hi Suzy,
Indeed a beautifully looking cake. Thanks for sharing. Can’t wait to try.
Just one question, how much in advance can I make this cake? and best way to store it (with/o syrup)?
Hi Priyanka! So the syrup must be poured on the cake immediately when you take it out of the oven (when the cake is hot, it will absorb the syrup better). You let it sit for at least an hour before serving. As far as how long it will store; it won’t be that different from other cakes (2-4 days, refrigerated). If you refrigerate it, you’ll want to make sure it gets to room temperature before serving; you can also give it a quick warm up.
OMG this looks so soft and yummy. Will surely try this out. Thanks for the detailed recipe
★★★★
Glad to hear it! I can’t wait for you to give it a try. Thanks for stopping in, Anukampa!
Hi Suzy! Trying the recipe out (thanks for the share!) how thick should the syrup be in terms of consistency?
Hi Sarah, it should thicken to a “syrup” consistency…If you’ve used like a maple or agave syrup for pancakes for example, this one should turn out similarly. But don’t worry if it’s not perfect. It’ll still taste great!
Thanks Suzy! It turned out amazingly well! I’m half Saudi half Syrian and was making this for the first time for my mother on Easter (reminiscent of her sitou’s ba’lawa which was lost). My mother, brother and fiance loved the recipe and I took it into my office the next day (all-arab working environment) and everyone absolutely adored it! Total hit! So thank you :). Thanks so much for sharing and for your response. Will be using your website tons to add to all our family recipes as well 🙂
★★★★★
reminiscent of her sitou’s basbousa* (I also made your baklawa recipe which was wonderful!)
Would it be okay to mix the coconut with the other ingredients when making this recipe? I will serve to some kids and prefer not to top it on the cake. Thanks.
Hi Mona, the coconut is not essential to this recipe. You can leave it out, or serve it on the side for those who might like to add it to their own pieces. If mixed in, it might dry out the basbousa. I haven’t tried it myself though. But that’s my initial thought.
This was absoloutely delish, made it for visitors and they raved about it. Will beaking again and again. Thanks ?
★★★★★
Thank you, Nikki! I am so glad to hear it was a success. Hope you find more recipes to try here. And thank you for sharing 🙂
Lovely recipe! Do you know if I could use all fine semolina for it, though? I recently ordered fine semolina for bread and have lots of it!
Yes, you can Mary! I tend to like mixing fine semolina with coarse semolina for cakes, but either one would work for this recipe, I believe. Enjoy!
We used all fine semolina and it turned out awesome!
Perfect, Maryalecia! I am glad to hear it.
when i poured the syrup on the cake it was floating about in the container in a sea of syrup. i was scared that i had put i too much syrup so i ended up pouring some away. I was wondering if this is how it should be or if i miscalculated my amounts somewhere?
my family raved about how delicious this cake is though 🙂 I made a raspberry, blueberry and orange juice sauce for the top and just used the almonds, missing out the coconut as i have some people in my family who don’t like it 🙂
Yes, it is a lot of syrup, and it does float at first. But you are supposed to leave it be for at least 1 hour before serving so that the syrup is completely absorbed. The end result should be a cake drenched in syrup 🙂 But I like your twist with the raspberry and orange juice topping! 🙂
I want to make this cake, but noticed there are no eggs in recipe, is this correct?
Chris, that is correct! This particular semolina cake does not use eggs.