Basbousa,one of the best semolina dessert in the Middle east. A one bowl dump semolina cake kind of recipe, sweet and soft.
One of the ” still a mystery” kind of recipe for me in the basbousa, I’ve tried many recipes and shared some with you for basbousa. This was my first basbousa recipe to make, then I’ve tried another Basbousa recipe which is now my favorite. I’ve also tweaked it a bit in this rolo basbousa which my kids loved so much.
Still what I come up with is a good basbousa but never like the one we have in Egypt, but I will not stop trying, I promise.
My favorite kind of recipes are the easy one bowl dumb and go recipes :). Most of the dessert recipes specially, the Middle Eastern, are easy but not that easy except for basbousa. You just put everything in one bowl mix, pour in an oven dish and bake. After it is out, time to drizzle with syrup.
What makes this new type of basbousa cake super delicious is that we make the basbousa, then you take cream and make lines to form squares. These lines of cream when baked, produces a very nice flavor to add to all the deliciousness of this dish. Let me show you.
Mix eggs, vanilla, sugar, oil and cream together.
Until they are well incorporated.
Add all the flours along with baking powder. Pour in a baking dish
Scoop about half of another can of table cream in a sandwich bag, trim the tip of the bag to use it as a piping bag. Draw vertical and horizontal lines as the picture above.
Bake until golden brown then drizzle with simple syrup. Cut into squares and serve. Sooo delicious.
I hope you’ll like this recipe and please if you make this recipe, snap a pic and hashtag it #amiraspantry — I love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter!
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Basbousa cake with cream
An easy semolina dump cake with cream.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs.
- a dash of vanilla powder or a tablespoon vanilla extract.
- 3/4 cup sugar.
- 1 cup coconut flakes.
- 1/4 cup oil.
- 1 can (7.6oz) Nestle table cream.
- 1/2 cup semolina flour.
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 - 1.5 cups simple syrup.
- Pistachios or any preferable nuts , optional.
- for decoration:
- 1/2 can (7.6) Nestle table cream.
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350F.
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In a deep bowl, mix first 6 ingredients well.
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In a separate bowl, mix together flour and baking powder.
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Add flour mixture to the egg mixture then add the semolina mixing everything well together.
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Butter a 13x9 baking dish and pour the mixture in, then level.
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Scoop as much as you like from the table cream in a sandwich bag, cut off the tip to form a piping bag.
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Carefully make horizontal and vertical lines along the pan.
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Bake for 25-35 minutes until golden brown.
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Pour the hot simple syrup over the cake and cover with foil.
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Let it set for a while to soak the syrup and cool down.
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Cut along the cream lines you’ve drawn on your cake.
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Garnish with chopped pistachios and serve.
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Enjoy.
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I have never used semolina for baking…but had cake made with it in restaurants…I must give this a try one of this days…and yes, I love the idea of the cream.
Have a wonderful week ahead Amira 🙂
Semolina is widely used across the Middle Eastern cuisine, especially the Moroccan one. I hope you’ll try this Juliana, tastes pretty delicious.
Enjoy Egypt! I was in Cairo a couple of weeks ago and ate lots of basboussa there! It was my favourite dessert when I was a child, our “dada” used to make a delicious one I will certainly try one of your basboussa recipes! Thank you for the great posts.
Oh Marga, I always recommend eating basbousa to anyone visiting Egypt, I hope you’ve enjoyed your time there. Where did you stay in Egypt, which shop/store did you like more for basbousa?. Thank you for your comment and please if you have a favorite basbousa recipe and would not mind sharing it, I would love to try your recipe.
For me the best shop is Mandarin Koueidar in Zamalek, Cairo. This is where we live. I have never tried to make it myself but your recipe is super tempting (the basbousa without the cream!) In France (where I now live) Algerians have something similar called Qalb el Loz made with semolina, nice but cannot compare to the Egyptian basbousa ! Enjoy Egypt and Ramadan Kareem!
Marga, Mandarin Koueidar is the best. We used to buy from it often when we lived in Maadi, I do not know if it is still there or not. I’ve heard about Qalb el looz too but never tried it before, I should look up a nice recipe and make it soon. Thanks Marga for your sweet wishes, we will be heading there tomorrow night In Shaa Allah.
I’ve just started using semolina – yes we often find it in Moroccan recipes.
Lovely Amira. Hope to try this soon for friends.
Sending you love and peace for a blessed Ramadan
Thanks Marie, I hope you’ll try this one and tell me how it went.
This does look easy! Not to mention really, really good. I love semolina in baked goods — such a nice flavor. Good stuff — thanks.
Thank you John, it is indeed delicious.
Hello!
I really want to make this, but in Quebec, we do not have the Nestlé cream. Can u suggest a replacement product?
Thank you!
Abby, you can use any table cream brand like Puck as well. I always buy mine from Walmart right in the hispanic section. It is always available at Target right next to the condensed and evaporated milk in the baking aisle and sometimes I find it at Kroger. I do not know if you have such stores at Canada but I am sure you have Walmart. If you still cannot find it there, you can try the Middle Eastern or Indian store if you have one nearby. I hope this helped, let me know if you need anymore assistance in finding it. Thank you.
Great! I will check Walmart and we have many many middle eastern grocery stores.
Thank you so much!
Hi Amira!
I found a cream, but wanted to know if it’s the 27% M.F one?
Thank you!
Abby
This is a simple cake and I have heard of it! I may have to try it! Sounds delish!
This sounds like a simple but delicious cake.
This is my kind of treat, Amira! I will love to try this out!
Hi Amira!
When do I add the Coconut flakes? It is mentioned in the ingredients list but not the instructions.
Emily, it is there in the second step “In a deep bowl, mix first 5 ingredients well.”. Hope this will help. Please come back and tell me how it went. Thank you.
Hi Amira,
As per your recipe the first 5 ingredients include Sugar, Oil, Eggs, Coconut flakes and Vanilla.
Should I add the cream also at this stage? because your pictures show that you are adding the cream while mixing the eggs and oil mixture. And what kind of syrup can I use for this recipe..
I would love to try this.. please help me with my queries.
Thank you.
Pooja, I am extremely sorry for the late reply, I’ve had a terrible way back home and am still recovering. Regarding your question,yes I should’ve said first 6 ingredients in fact. Thanks you for the correction, the pictures are correct.For the syrup, we usually use a simple sugar syrup for basbousa that is 1:1 sugar to water ration in a pan over medium heat then when it start boiling reduce heat add 1 teaspoon of lime juice let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until thickened. Turn off heat and pour it over the cake while both are hot.
P.S: I like adding a 1/4 cup of honey to the syrup, but this is optional.
Let me know how it went with you and thanks for being interested in the recipe. I hope you’ll like it