Basboosa II

Recipe By Felicia Manocchio
Rating
Published Jun 24th
Prep 15m Cook 45m Additional - Ready In 1h
Servings 9 servings Calories 298.5

This is a traditional Middle Eastern dessert made of semolina flour, yogurt, and coconut. To adjust the sweetness, you can half or double the amount of sugar in the lemon syrup.

Recipe Ingredients

  • 2 cups semolina flour
  • ⅓ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
  • ¼ cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • ¼ cup milk, or as needed
  • ¼ cup whole almonds
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cooking Directions

  1. 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square baking dish.
  2. 2 In a large bowl, mix together the semolina flour, baking powder, 1 cup sugar, coconut and butter. Add the yogurt and milk; mix until moistened but not runny or liquid. If you see that it is too dry, add more milk. Spread into a greased 8 inch square baking dish, smoothing the top as much as possible. Decorate the top with whole almonds.
  3. 3 Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. While the basboosa is baking, combine the water, 1 cup of sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and cook for at least 5 minutes.
  4. 4 When the basboosa has finished baking, pour the syrup over it as evenly as possible. Place it back in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the syrup has been fully absorbed. Let rest for about 20 minutes before cutting into pieces and serving.

Nutrition Facts

  • Calories 298.5
  • Carbohydrate 51.9 g
  • Cholesterol 15.7 mg
  • Fat 10 g
  • Fiber 1.3 g
  • Protein 2.8 g
  • Saturated Fat 5.9 g
  • Sodium 95 mg
  • Sugar 49.9 g

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Reviews

  1. Mona Ay Dec 14, 2011 12:30 AM
    This was the third recipe I tried of basbousa and thankfully it turned out just the way I wanted. The coconut flavor stood out like someone else has mentioned too which was a big plus point and it wasn;t too cakey- just the right amount of baking powder. If this hadn;t turned out good I - Read more ...
  2. RAHIMA Sep 1, 2011 06:42 PM
    5 star but slight changes... make sure to use the #2 semolina flour. Next only use 3/4 cup sugar in batter. In the syrup I used rose flavoring. Plus I only used 3/4cup water and 1/2 cup sugar to make syrup. I decorated it with sliced almonds which I already had on hand.And after pouring - Read more ...
  3. BatikWindmillTurban Aug 5, 2011 03:53 PM
    Beware! The recipe doesn't specify but someone's suggestion of using #2 semolina or it will not absorb the syrup is true. All I found was #1 and it turned out dense in spite of using a 9.5 inch pan. I think this would have made all the difference in the world. I made cuts both - Read more ...
  4. Felicia Manocchio Jun 21, 2010 05:47 PM
    I know that rose water is a must-have for arabic deserts. But i personally don't prefer it and that is why I chose to leave it out of the recipe. I guess I should have added it as an optional thing in the recipe. Glad you all like it. Felicia
  5. Hanan Feb 11, 2009 01:25 AM
    This is a great recipe (sometimes also called Hareesa)and very much like what my Egyptian mother makes. Unfortunately Mom makes all these wonderful recipes but she can't give you exact measurements-she does it all by sight. I do have some recommendations: Buy the medium semolina (sometimes called #2) because the fine semolina makes it difficult - Read more ...
  6. SUFFY_78 Dec 22, 2008 12:11 AM
    I have tried many times to get a proper recipe for this desert which mom used to make for us as kids. This is as good as it gets and I made it repeatedly for my little family. Ditto with the rose water added to the syrup/mixture or both if u want.
  7. mama kitty Nov 10, 2008 02:30 PM
    this was easy and turned out great. i cut the basboosa into squares before baking and then went over those again after baking to let the syrup distribute nicely. i also added rosewater to the syrup. this tasted really good because of the coconut. i will use this recipe again.
  8. TRADY'S LADY Sep 27, 2007 10:51 AM
    Delicious my only recommendations are to add a whole lemon's juice to the syrup part and before you pour on the syrup....poke some holes in the cake so that the syrup can reach the bottom layer. I couldn't figure out why mine was absorbing all of the syrup- I'll know for next time.
  9. Jo Anna Mar 25, 2007 08:03 PM
    Make this fab dessert even healthier by using NON-FAT plain yogurt and substituting the 2 cups total white sugar used (in the cake and the syrup) with 1 cup sugar 1 cup sugar substitute. I also use a fresh squeezed lemon--all of it instead of the 1 tablespoon in recipe. It gives more boost to - Read more ...
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