🍰 Basbousa

Name: Basbousa
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Egypt · Middle East
Ingredients: 300 g coarse semolina; 50 g desiccated coconut; 100 g sugar; 1 tsp baking powder; 250 g plain yogurt; 120 g melted butter; Syrup: 250 g sugar, 200 ml water, 1 tsp lemon juice

Origin: Egypt · Middle East

232kcal

per serving · 80 g

290kcal

per 100 g

3 gProtein4 g / 100 g

8 gFat10 g / 100 g

37 gCarbs46 g / 100 g

Basbousa is a soft semolina cake soaked in sugar syrup, beloved across Egypt and the wider Arab world. The batter of semolina, yogurt, melted butter and desiccated coconut bakes into a golden, slightly grainy cake that is drenched in syrup while hot, turning it moist and sweet. It is cut into diamonds or squares and served with tea or coffee, especially during Ramadan and celebrations.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

Not veganbecause of: yogurt, butter

Contains glutenbecause of: semolina

Contains dairybecause of: yogurt, butter

Not keto46 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

semolinayogurtsugar syrupcoconutbutter

Recipe

12 servings60 min

Ingredients

300 g coarse semolina
50 g desiccated coconut
100 g sugar
1 tsp baking powder
250 g plain yogurt
120 g melted butter
Syrup: 250 g sugar, 200 ml water, 1 tsp lemon juice

Method

Make the syrup: boil the sugar and water for 8–10 minutes, add the lemon juice and leave to cool.
Mix the semolina, coconut, sugar and baking powder, then stir in the yogurt and melted butter to a thick batter. Rest for 15 minutes.
Spread the batter in a greased 25 cm tin, smooth the top and score it into diamonds with a knife.
Bake at 180 °C for 30–35 minutes until deep golden.
Pour the cool syrup over the hot cake straight from the oven and let it soak for at least 30 minutes before serving.

How to make it lighter

Cut small pieces: basbousa is dense and sweet, and a 50 g square is often enough.
Use less syrup and a lighter-sugar syrup; most of the sweetness soaks in from it.
Make it with low-fat yogurt and reduce the butter slightly; the cake still stays moist from the syrup.

History

Syrup-soaked semolina cakes are eaten across the Middle East, North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean under many names, such as harissa or hareeseh in the Levant and revani in Turkey and Greece. Basbousa is the Egyptian name, and it is now one of the most popular sweets in Egyptian bakeries and homes.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →