Basbousa with Spiced Citrus Syrup

Basbousa is a sweet semolina dessert popular throughout the Middle East and North Africa. A dessert synonymous with Ramadan, it’s a baked semolina batter sweetened with a sugar syrup and usually cut into diamond or square shapes.

My recipe for Basbousa with a Spiced Citrus Syrup comes at a time of the USA Iran war and as I am sitting here in Abu Dhabi, today has been the first day in two weeks with no warning alerts about incoming missiles and drones. It’s such an unsettling time, with many more in much worse conditions than myself but I find myself missing familiar tastes from home.

It is that feeling of missing tastes and flavours from home that inspired me to play with the syrup that is poured over the Basbousa. Rather than the usual simple syrup flavoured with lemon juice and either rose of orange blossom water I referenced the spiced syrup used for South African Cape Malay koesisters.

So I made a syrup infused with a cinnamon quill, bay leaf, star anise, orange peel, cloves and cardamom to perfume the Basbousa, reducing the sugar a tad as there is enough sugar in the batter and I prefer a dessert that is not overly sweet. And of course, a good pinch of salt. Anything sweet needs a little bit of salt. And I added the grated zest of the lemon used in the syrup to the semolina batter for some more citrus flavour.

The result is that familiar taste and texture of a Basbousa but perfumed with citrus notes and the warmth of the spices that turned out to be a delicious reminder of those South African flavours I long for.

The exact origin of Basbousa is uncertain but its Arabic roots are clear, sharing the signature sugar syrup soak common to so many traditional Arabic sweets. Called Basbousa in Egypt, Namoura in Lebanon, Hareesa in Palestine and Jordan or Revani in Turkey the essence of the dessert remains a fragrant, syrup soaked semolina cake that has been bringing people together for hundreds of years.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Basbousa with Spiced Citrus Syrup. If you’ve made it, do share it with me by tagging and following @heinstirred on Instagram. It is always a treat to see the recipes made and enjoyed.

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Basbousa with Spiced Citrus Syrup

The beloved Middle Eastern semolina cake soaked in fragrant spiced syrup inspired by the syrup used for South African Cape Malay Koesisters

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Baking

Servings 12

Calories 250 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 1 tbsp tahini or ghee for greasing the pan
• 250 g semolina
• 170 g sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• zest of 1 lemon finely grated
• 250 g plain full fat yoghurt not Greek yoghurt
• 125 g melted ghee
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• almonds for decorating
• Syrup
• 250 ml water
• 175 g sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods gently cracked
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 star anise
• peel of one orange cut into strips without the pith
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions

 

• Make the syrup by combining all the ingredients and bring to a boil while stirring until the sugar dissolves
• Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse
• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C
• Grease a 20cm or 22cm square baking tin with the tahini

• Combine the semolina, sugar, baking powder, salt, zest, yogurt, ghee and vanilla in a bowl and mix with a spoon until combined into a wet cookie dough like batter
• If the batter is too wet add more semolina to firm it up - you want to be able to cut the shapes before baking
• Press the mixture into the prepared baking tin and smooth the top
• Cut into squares or diamond shapes and lightly press an almond into the centre of each shape
Bake for 35 - 45 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out dry
• When the cake has 5 minutes left to bake reheat the syrup to simmer 
Remove the cake from the oven and immediately pour the hot syrup evenly over the surface - using a strainer to catch the aromatics
• Use a knife to recut the shapes if needed and set the cake aside to absorb the syrup and cool for an hour
• Serve at room temperature

Keyword basbousa, middle eastern, semolina