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Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 (206g) Recipe makes 9 servings
Calories 628
Calories from Fat 203		(32%)
Amount Per Serving		%DV
	Total Fat 22.7g	34%
	Saturated Fat 13.9g	69%
	Monounsaturated Fat 6.0g
	Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0g
	Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 104mg		34%
Sodium 416mg		17%
Potassium 108mg		3%
Total Carbohydrate 105.2g		35%
	Dietary Fiber 1.0g	4%
	Sugars 90.2g
Protein 5.0g		9%
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Basboosa - Easy Semolina Cake

Recipe #254309 | 1 hour | 15 min prep | add private note

⁽⁵⁾ RATE IT NOW Print Recipe

By: Doraholix
Sep 20, 2007

This has been a favorite dessert in many Middle Eastern and North African countries- this is my mother's recipe. It's very simple and easy to remember.

SERVES 9 -12 (change servings and units)

Ingredients

Cake

1 cup semolina flour
1 cup yogurt
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 beaten eggs

Syrup

3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 lemon or lime
1 cinnamon stick

Directions

1
First make the cake:.
2
Preheat oven to 350.
3
Mix together flour, sugar, and baking powder very well in large bowl.
4
Melt butter, add into mixture.
5
Add yogurt into the mixture, mix well.
6
Add eggs, mix well again.
7
Beat mixture for 2 minutes til there are no lumps.
8
Pour into 9 X 13 inch baking pan brushed with very little oil.
9
Bake in middle rack of oven for 45 minutes.
10
While the cake bakes, prepare the syrup:.
11
Mix 3 cups sugar & one cup water in a pot, put on stove on high heat.
12
Add in vanilla and cinnamon stick. Stir well.
13
Squeeze half lemon into mixture, drop the lemon itself in there after squeezing.
14
Mix well, let boil for 1 minute, remove from heat.
15
After cake is a golden color (after about 45 mins), remove from oven, and let cool for about 5 minutes.
16
Pour syrup onto the whole cake, let cool. Cut into as many pieces as you like.
17
Enjoy!

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Featured Reviews for This Recipe

From: Maya's Mama

On Aug 27, 2009

this was just okay... the recipe makes too much syrup than you actually need to soak the cake. Also the cook time is way too long. I took mine out of the oven about 35 min into cooking and it was already over done. the edge of this cake is not suppose to be crispy or caramelized. it is not suppose to have any sort of a crust. it is a good cake. the taste is spot on... but i think the recipe needs a little bit of adjusting.

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From: Elmotoo

On Feb 28, 2009

This was delicious!! I did cut the sugar in the syrup back to 1 1/2c as most simple syrups are 1:1 sugar:water ratio, anyway. I was surprised & pleased that the cake wasn't overly sweet! I used an orange as I didn't have a lemon or lime. So then I added a TB of orange flower water. We LOVE the texture of semolina cakes. This was absolutely delicious. Thank you!

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From: Lt. Amy

On Feb 15, 2009

I had never made/had basboosa before, so I wasn't sure how it should turn out. The flavor of the cake was great, but it was a bit flat and stuck to the bottom of the pan. It did have a great caramelized crust around the edges. Overall, I really like it. We only made a small batch of the syrup and served it warm with Easy Date and Pecan Ice Cream (Easy Date and Pecan Ice-Cream). Together it was a very yummy desert.

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From: Chef #725332

On Aug 10, 2008

Ok, so I tried this recipe because I've always wanted to try basboosa. It was good but, typical of Middle Eastern desserts, the recipe calls for the cake to be absolutely drowned in syrup. I only put half the syrup on the cake and that was more than enough. Also, again very typical, the finished product was very very sweet. So I would suggest cutting out 1/2, maybe 3/4 cup of sugar from the syrup [I really don't think it will be missed, there's still loads of sugar in the syrup]. But overall, it was very good.

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