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Basbousa

Middle Eastern · 55 min · Easy · 12 pieces

Basbousa

A dense, damp semolina cake soaked in lemon syrup, cut into diamonds with an almond on each. Sweet and grainy in the best way.

~290 cal per serving — Calories are approximate, per serving — a guide only.

soy-free
Plan it:

Method

  1. 1

    Make the syrup

    ⏱ 8 min

    Warm the sugar for the syrup with the water and the lemon juice in a pot until dissolved, simmer 8 minutes, then leave to cool completely.

  2. 2

    Mix the batter

    ⏱ 10 min

    Stir the semolina, sugar, baking powder, plant yogurt and melted butter together in a bowl until you have a thick, spoonable paste. Let it stand 10 minutes so the semolina drinks.

  3. 3

    Score and top

    Spread into a lined baking tray, smooth the top, and score into diamonds. Press a blanched almond into the center of each.

  4. 4

    Bake

    ⏱ 40 min

    Bake at 400°F conventional (180°C fan) for 35–40 minutes until golden and firm at the edges, with the scored diamonds still clearly marked across the whole tray and the almonds set into them.

  5. 5

    Soak

    Pour the cold syrup over the whole tray of hot scored cake and leave it to drink for at least an hour before cutting along the scored lines.

Notes

Coarse semolina gives the proper grainy bite; fine semolina makes it cakey. Score before baking or the diamonds tear. Like baklava: cold syrup, hot cake.

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