A Middle Eastern semolina and yogurt cake, perfect with coffee or tea.
Basbousa is delicious served after a meal, or with coffee or tea, and makes a lovely gift wrapped in cellophane and ribbon.
If, like me, you love anything made with semolina, you will love this dessert.
Basbousa is a delicious Middle Eastern cake made from a coarsely ground semolina and yogurt.
It is a popular dessert in Greece, Turkey and the Middle East. In Arabic it is known as Basbousa which means 'just a kiss', while in Lebanon it is called Namoura, and in Greece, Revani.
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There are many different ways of preparing Basbousa, but this particular recipe is always a real hit.
In fact, this basbousa recipe is so simple, you will be making it all the time.
Helpful tips
- It is best made with coarse semolina for a fabulous slightly spongy texture - the milk and yoghurt provide sufficient moisture.
- If you prefer a sweeter dessert, make a thicker sugar syrup by adding more sugar, according to your taste, and cooking for longer.
- For mini basbousas, pour the mixture into buttered cupcake tins and bake for 15 minutes.
Note: This recipe does not use eggs.
Variations
It is often made with Rosewater, or you could use orange blossom water instead (we prefer this). Cortas is our favourite brand as it has a wonderful fresh aroma and flavour, and it's easily available in Asian shops.
Alternatively, you could just use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice instead.
Some versions of basbousa are made with coconut, so you could mix ½ cup desicated coconut flakes in with the mixture before pouring it into the baking dish.
Storing
To store, cover and keep at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze the entire cake or pieces in freezer bags.
Are you making this Basbousa recipe? Do let me know how it turned out in the comments! And please give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Basbousa Cake
Ingredients
- coarse semolina - 2 cups 325 g
- caster sugar - 1 cup 200 g
- Greek yogurt - 1 cup 280 g
- milk - ¼ cup 60 ml
- melted butter - ¼ cup, or almond butter 60 g
- baking powder ⅓ teaspoon
- almonds 20
For the syrup
- water - 1 cup 235 ml
- caster sugar - 1 cup 200 g
- lemon juice 1 teaspoon
- orange blossom water 1 teaspoon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 320℉/175℃/160℃ fan, and butter an 8-inch (20 cm) baking dish.
- In a large bowl, mix 325 g coarse semolina, 200 g caster sugar, 60 g melted butter and ⅓ teaspoon baking powder.
- Add 60 ml milk and 280 g Greek yogurt and mix till it is like a paste.
- Spread the mixture evenly into the buttered baking dish and smooth it down. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle, comes out clean.
To make the syrup
- In a small saucepan, combine 235 ml water and 200 g caster sugar. Stir till the sugar dissolves, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly and add 1 teaspoon orange blossom water and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Set aside till the cake is ready.
Assemble the cake
- Remove the cake from the oven. Cut into diamond shapes with a butter knife and press an almond on each piece.
- While it is still warm, pour all the syrup slowly and evenly over the top of the cake, it will take a while to soak all the way through.
- Place the cake back in the oven at the same temperature, for 5 minutes or till the top is a lovely golden colour. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- For mini basbousas, pour the mixture into buttered cupcake tins and bake for 15 minutes (till golden brown). Pour sugar syrup over the mini version and bake for another 2-3 minutes.
- Semolina and orange blossom water can be found at most Italian or Middle Eastern grocery stores.
- This recipe does not make a very sweet cake but feel free to adjust the level of sweetness by reducing or adding to the amount of sugar in the syrup.
- Keep the cake covered in a cool kitchen for up to 3 days.
- This cake freezes well and can be frozen whole, packed in plastic wrap, or in pieces in freezer bags.
Only you will see your notes and you can edit them anytime.
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutritional information calculated automatically per serving, accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Hinesh says
Made this with the coconut option and it was delicious! A few tips: simmer the syrup for longer. With just 5 minutes, there was more than the cake could absorb, so I needed to cook it for 15 mins (rather than 5 as in the recipe) to reduce. Even without all the syrup, it's still on the sweet side - so maybe reduce the amount of sugar, especially if you're using coconut. Also, lemon juice is listed in the ingredients but not used. I squeezed lemon onto my cake at the end and it's better, so I suggested adding lemon juice directly to the syrup alongside the orange blossom water. Finally, use a sharp knife rather than a butter knife - even then the diamonds are a bit jagged so next time I'm going to try the muffin tin option. Otherwise a great recipe - thanks Nicole!
Isabelle says
I am wondering if I can use couscous instead of semolina,as I am in Thailand.
Can you tell me ? 😊
Nicole Shroff says
Unfortunately couscous won't work for basbousa, you will really need semolina. I believe it is available in the European/foreign food stores around Thailand, or you could try Amazon. I do hope you are able to find it, and let me know how it turned out for you.
Soniya says
Love the addition of citrus flavor in the basbousa!! Yummilicious!
Uma Srinivas says
Ingredients are familiar but not name of the desserts! Lovely post:)
Freda says
Lovely cake! I love semolina based cakes. I'm yet to try this with orange blossom water. Although I love rose flavors in baked goodies, I'm sure this must be great as well.
Dhwani @cookingcarnival says
Looks absolutely delicious!! I ll give this a try.
laughingspatula says
I have never tried Basbousa but I do love cake and citrus! This looks truly yummy!
linda spiker says
Lovely recipe! And I love orange blossom water!
Tara says
Such an incredible dessert! I love that you used orange blossom instead of rose. Yum!
brandidcrawfordgmailcom says
I love that this is vegan! Looks tasty!
Manju | Cooking Curries says
I make a similar orange almond semolina cake and this looks great too! I love that name!
Ferhat says
absolutely fantastic looks delicious. I will definitely try it today.
admin says
Thanks Ferhat, hope you enjoy it ?