This is a traditional Middle Eastern dessert made of semolina flour, yogurt, and coconut. To adjust the sweetness, you can half or double the amount of sugar in the lemon syrup.
This is a great recipe (sometimes also called Hareesa)and very much like what my Egyptian mother makes. Unfortunately Mom makes all these wonderful recipes but she can't give you exact measurements-she does it all by sight. I do have some recommendations: Buy the medium semolina (sometimes called #2) because the fine semolina makes it difficult for the syrup to absorb throughout the whole basboosa. Also, at the end of the baking time, turn the broiler on for 2-3 minutes to give the top a golden brown color. Last, make sure to double the syrup ingredients. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes then simmer for about 10 minutes.
Read MoreBeware! The recipe doesn't specify but someone's suggestion of using #2 semolina or it will not absorb the syrup is true. All I found was #1 and it turned out dense, in spite of using a 9.5 inch pan. I think this would have made all the difference in the world. I made cuts both before and after baking and the syrup only penetrated these cuts leaving most of my basboosa dense and dry. I guess now I have semolina to try to making handmade pasta...lol. That said, the flavor of coconut and the lemon juice in the syrup stood out. I think it would have been good. I followed the recipe exactly except for adding 1 tsp almond extract which gives it a nice flavor!
Read MoreThis is a great recipe (sometimes also called Hareesa)and very much like what my Egyptian mother makes. Unfortunately Mom makes all these wonderful recipes but she can't give you exact measurements-she does it all by sight. I do have some recommendations: Buy the medium semolina (sometimes called #2) because the fine semolina makes it difficult for the syrup to absorb throughout the whole basboosa. Also, at the end of the baking time, turn the broiler on for 2-3 minutes to give the top a golden brown color. Last, make sure to double the syrup ingredients. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes then simmer for about 10 minutes.
Make this fab dessert even healthier by using NON-FAT plain yogurt and substituting the 2 cups total white sugar used (in the cake and the syrup) with 1 cup sugar, 1 cup sugar substitute. I also use a fresh squeezed lemon--all of it, instead of the 1 tablespoon in recipe. It gives more boost to the flavor and makes it sing! Try covering the entire dish with sliced almonds instead of whole ones--you get an ever better toasted almond flavor. And for my last substitute, use Cream of Wheat instead of semolina! Not everyone has semolina flour on hand, but most people have Cream of Wheat! The larger the baking dish you use, as well, the faster the cake will cook. I usually double the recipe and spread it into a 8 x 11.5 glass dish for quick baking. For special occasions and for the sake of presentation, bake in a beautiful oven proof pottery dish like a quich dish or fancy pie dish. Or any shallow pottery piece is fine. It is beautiful when placed on the table!
Beware! The recipe doesn't specify but someone's suggestion of using #2 semolina or it will not absorb the syrup is true. All I found was #1 and it turned out dense, in spite of using a 9.5 inch pan. I think this would have made all the difference in the world. I made cuts both before and after baking and the syrup only penetrated these cuts leaving most of my basboosa dense and dry. I guess now I have semolina to try to making handmade pasta...lol. That said, the flavor of coconut and the lemon juice in the syrup stood out. I think it would have been good. I followed the recipe exactly except for adding 1 tsp almond extract which gives it a nice flavor!
this was easy and turned out great. i cut the basboosa into squares before baking and then went over those again after baking to let the syrup distribute nicely. i also added rosewater to the syrup. this tasted really good because of the coconut. i will use this recipe again.
I have tried many times to get a proper recipe for this desert which mom used to make for us as kids. This is as good as it gets and I made it repeatedly for my little family. Ditto with the rose water added to the syrup/mixture or both if u want.
Delicious, my only recommendations are to add a whole lemon's juice to the syrup part and before you pour on the syrup....poke some holes in the cake so that the syrup can reach the bottom layer. I couldn't figure out why mine was absorbing all of the syrup- I'll know for next time.
5 star, but slight changes... make sure to use the #2 semolina flour. Next only use 3/4 cup sugar in batter. In the syrup, I used rose flavoring. Plus I only used 3/4cup water and 1/2 cup sugar to make syrup. I decorated it with sliced almonds which I already had on hand.And after pouring the syrup on, I broiled it in the oven for around 5 minute. When cooking in oven pay attention. Cooks faster than you think. Lowered my oven temp to 335-340. Everyone loved it and I never made it before, so good luck.
I know that rose water is a must-have for arabic deserts. But i personally don't prefer it and that is why I chose to leave it out of the recipe. I guess I should have added it as an optional thing in the recipe. Glad you all like it. Felicia
This was the third recipe I tried of basbousa and thankfully it turned out just the way I wanted. The coconut flavor stood out, like someone else has mentioned too, which was a big plus point, and it wasn;t too cakey- just the right amount of baking powder. If this hadn;t turned out good, I was going to give up on basbousas but I'm definitely going to make this again. oh but I did find it too sweet for my taste even though I used half the amount of sugar in the syrup than suggested.
this is a great recipe... just the way my family does it in Egypt. However, i would suggest to increase the syrup recipe a bit and just use 1 tsp of lemon juice to avoid the bitter/sour taste. A definite keeper
I love it. It is sweet, and everyone loves it. With the addition of about a teaspoon of Rose Water to either the syrup or the dessert itself, it is authentically Middle Eastern, and makes me dream of Lebanon when I eat it!
Delicious recipe! Just like my mom's (only hers doesn't have exact ingredients). My changes: I used the #2 semolina flour, doubled the simple syrup recipe, and used 2 tbsp. of orange blossom water in the syrup. Made it for a family gathering and it was a big hit.
I'm sorry it didn't work for me . I'm from the middle east and Basboosa is one of my favorite desserts but some thing was wrong with the recipe , I don't think only how fine is the Semolina coz my mom makes it with the fine one but I might did something wrong the Basboosa came. Tough and didn't absorb the syrup . The one thing i'm sure of is the pan size that made it so thick for Basboosa if the recipe worked for me I would use at least a 9 inch pan coz the thicker the Basboosa the longer time it will take in the oven which makes it more dry
I´ve never baked before anything with semolina. So it´s the first try. I followed the recipe almost exactly. As I didn´t have any yogurt, I had to substitute the mix of sour cream and milk for yogurt. For me it tasted the same. I didn´t like this sourish syrup and next time I wouldn´t add any lemon juice at all. Instead I would add 2 tbsp of honey (surprisingly but for me it was not very sweet). But actually I still don´t get if I like semolina pastry. Need to try something else with it. Don´t use a springform pan. In my case the syrup leaked greatly and made a mess of all my oven. Oough! Now need to clean it.
I used unsweetened coconut and 3/4c yogurt with 1/4c cream. I halved the sugar for the water/sugar combo and added 3 tablespoons of cream. My Egyptian husband doesn't like his desserts too sweet and he said this was perfect.
Using #1 semolina flour left this dry and dense. People have mentioned it on here before; can someone please tell me where I can find semolina #2? It's near impossible to find online (unless I'm looking for it incorrectly). Many thanks in advance.
I halved the sugar in both the cake and the syrup and lowered the water in the syrup to 3/4th cup and increased the lemon juice to 2T. Omit butter. Tasty tasty!
It turned out pretty well, except that it tasted a little sour than what I have eaten before. I guess I will put less yogurt and less lemon next time :)
Wonderful recipe. Didn't need to use any milk. The yogurt was enough to make it moist but not runny. For the syrup I did 2 cups of sugar to one cup water. We like things to be super sweet! :-) Also added a bit of rose water to the syrup.
