Leyla's Middle Eastern Basbousa (Semolina Cake)

Photo: Leyla Hur

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 eggs

2 cups fine semolina (sooji)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup plain (or vanilla flavoured) yogurt

15 almonds, blanched and split

Syrup:

2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons rose water

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Preparation

Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla essence until mix turns very light and becomes very light and fluffy.

Add eggs to the butter mixture one at a time and beat very well. Set bowl aside.

In a separate bowl, sift together semolina, baking powder, baking soda.

Slowly add semolina mix to the butter mixture, alternating with the yogurt, until both are well incorporated into the mixture. Beat very well until very fluffy, this will allow the semolina to expand while baking in the oven.

Heat oven to 300*F

Grease an 8 X 8 square baking dish, or use a round 6" baking pan.

Enjoy with a strong cup of mint tea

Pour the batter in to the bakin dish and smoothe out. "Pinch" the almonds into the batter, pushing all the way through to the other side (if using round pan), and add the almonds close together to ensure that all pieces of cake will have a cake. If using a square pan and not turning, place almonds on top of cake.

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes (for 8 X 8 pan) or 45 - 50 minutes for 6" round pan.

While cake is cooking, make the simple syrup but boiling together the sugar, water, rose water, and lemon juice. Once brought to a boil, allow to boil for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and place the pan into a larger bowl with cold water and stir well to force-cool the syrup. Keep changing the water in the second bowl as it heats up, replacing it with cold water. Once cold, set aside.

When the cake is cooked through, remove from heat and immediately pour the syrup over top. It will looks like it is submerged in syrup, but leave it alone for 15 minutes allowing the syrup to be soaked in to the cake.

Take a large plate and place over the cake pan, and over the sink, very fast turn the cake pan over with the plate on top and let the cake slip down/out on to the plate. Allow to cool completely before serving.

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About

I grew up eating semolina for breakfast. Mum used to make it like porridge, and sometimes she would put a raw egg yolk in the bottom and then pour the hot semolina over top which "cooked" the egg, and gave the semolina a very creamy taste. Ummm... I still have memories of walking into the kitchen early in the morning, rubbing the sleep out of my eye, and smelling the milky, creamy, wheat scents in the kitchen, which created a comfort for me, that even today when I eat semolina, it makes me feel comforted, safe, and coddled with love of mother.

The first time I tried Basbousa, it was as if each mouthful of sweet, syrupy, soft grainy goodness transferred me further and further back in time to our tiny kitchen in Hong Kong and Mum making semolina breakfast for me.

So when I was suddenly struck with a craving, simple semolina did not "cut it" as far as my craving went. I wanted to "create", I wanted to expand myself and give my hand at making something different, and bring a new taste to my husband.

Basbousa is very easy to make, but it takes just a little time with creaming the sugar and butter together. I choose to use the old fashioned method that my Mum taught me so many years ago, and that is to cream it in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Each step after, I use the electric mixer, but that first step, that all important step, is creamed and beaten with love and I think that that is the 'secret' ingredient that makes this cake absolutely sublime.

Enjoy a slice with unsweetned strong mint tea, it truly pairs very well and is just SO Middle Eastern.