🍰 Harissa (semolina cake)

Name: Harissa (semolina cake)
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: Levant · Egypt
Ingredients: 300 g coarse semolina; 100 g sugar; 100 g ghee, melted; 250 g plain yogurt; 40 g desiccated coconut; 16 blanched almonds; For the syrup: 250 g sugar, 180 ml water and a squeeze of lemon

Origin: Levant · Egypt

291kcal

per serving · 80 g

364kcal

per 100 g

5 gProtein6 g / 100 g

10 gFat12 g / 100 g

46 gCarbs58 g / 100 g

This harissa is not the chili paste but a dense, golden semolina cake soaked in sugar syrup, known as basbousa in Egypt and namoura in Lebanon. The batter of semolina, yogurt, coconut and ghee bakes into a moist, slightly grainy cake, cut into diamonds, each topped with an almond. It is a favourite tray sweet in Ramadan and at family gatherings.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

Not veganbecause of: ghee, yogurt

Contains glutenbecause of: semolina

Contains dairybecause of: ghee, yogurt

Not keto58 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk ⚠ Tree nuts

What it is made of

semolinasugar syrupgheeyogurtalmondscoconut

Recipe

16 servings60 min

Ingredients

300 g coarse semolina
100 g sugar
100 g ghee, melted
250 g plain yogurt
40 g desiccated coconut
16 blanched almonds
For the syrup: 250 g sugar, 180 ml water and a squeeze of lemon

Method

Make the syrup: boil the sugar and water for 8 minutes, add the lemon and let it cool.
Mix the semolina, sugar, coconut and melted ghee, then stir in the yogurt to a thick batter. Rest 20 minutes.
Spread in a greased 25 cm tray, smooth the top, cut into diamonds and press an almond into each.
Bake at 190 °C for 30–35 minutes until deep golden.
Pour the cool syrup over the hot cake and let it soak for at least 1 hour before serving.

How to make it lighter

Cut small diamonds — this cake is very energy-dense, so one small piece goes a long way.
Use less syrup, or a lighter syrup, and the cake stays moist.
Enjoy it with unsweetened tea or coffee rather than a sweet drink.

History

Syrup-soaked semolina cakes are eaten across the Levant, Egypt and the wider Arab world under several names. In Syria and Palestine the cake is commonly called harissa, and it is a fixture of bakeries and home kitchens during Ramadan.

Count it in one photo

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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 →