Unbelievably Tasty Desert Basbousa

I made this unbelievably tasty desert Basbousa for Eid this year at home. Usually we go to hubbys hometown to celebrate but this year Eid celebration was at home and I had to make something special. Basbousa is a native Egyptian and a traditional middle Eastern sweet cake dessert that is relatively easy to make but superbly delicious and tasty.

What does Basbousa taste like?

The literal translation of the word Basbousa is ” Just a Kiss” and that is what it tastes like. A light summery breezy kiss with citrusy flavours and mild sweetness. The semolina gives it a coarse sandy texture but the sugar syrup soak makes it super soft. The recipe called for coconut too, but I skipped it to suit our palate.

I served this delicious and tasty dessert on a super pretty handcrafted wooden epoxy tray that I recently got from the online store iTokri.

This beautiful tray is perfect for holding hot or cold dishes and cups and makes a wonderful addition to your kitchen, dining room, or party hosting tableware set. The shape and size is perfect for tea time snacks and cups. The size dimension of the tray that I have is Length – 32.5 cm, Width – 27.5 cm, Height – 4 cm. This beautiful handcrafted wooden tray is special in the sense that it is made by skilled artisans from mdf wood and non-toxic epoxy resin glue. To clean I generally wipe gently with a clean wet cloth as it is mild water resistant and should not be soaked or submerged in water. iTokri has over 500+ artisan families and they empower 10,000+ individuals. Being handcrafted the tray has an uniqueness to it too. The best thing for me is the colour combination and the beautiful Moroccan print pattern.
As I used this tray on Eid, it was the perfect addition to our celebrations and made it easier to serve our guest.

Ingredients for Basbousa

1 ½ cup Semolina( sooji) ( 150gm)
1 cup curd/ dahi
2 eggs
2 tbsp + 3/ cup( 75 gms) sugar
Olive oil 50 ml + Melted Butter 50 ml
Orange zest
Lemon juice
Orange essence
Baking Powder 1 ½ tsp
Salt ¼ tsp
Crushed Pistachios/ almonds for decoration.

Method

Mix the semolina , curd, olive and butter so that there are no lumps. Keep this covered for 20 minutes.
Beat 2 eggs and slowly add in the soaked semolina mixture. Make sure there are no lumps.
Add the orange zest, orange essence, salt and baking powder and mix well.
Pour the batter into a greased sheet pan.
Bake at 180 degree celsius for 30 to 40 minutes i.e till a knife comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, mix 1 .5 cups water with ¾ cups sugar, lemon juice and make a syrup.
Remove the cake from the oven. While it is still hot, pour the hot syrup over the cake and keep it covered for at least one hour. Decorate with almonds or crushed pistas and enjoy this deliciously tasty desert called Basbousa.

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This post is part of  #BlogchatterA2Z challenge and this is the U- post