Egyptian Basbousa

Author: Marisa Lopez Chicote

Egyptian Basbousa

The origin of basbousa goes back to the revani (one of the names of basbousa even in Egypt has a different recipe than basbousa) of Turkish cuisine, a classic cake from the time of the Ottoman Empire.

Indeed, revani was baked for the first time by Ottoman pastry chefs to celebrate the conquest of Armenia in the sixteenth century. The battle of Revan, capital of the country, today called Yerevan, gave its name to this famous dessert.

Basbousa has different names depending of many Middle Eastern countries like harissa or harissa hloua in Tunisia and in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, kalb el louz in Algeria, chamia in Morocco, revani or rabani in Turkey, safra in Israel , pastūsha in Kuwait, namoura in Lebanon or Syria, revani in Greece, shammali in Cyprus, or shamali in Armenia.l

Ingredients:

For the batter:

  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee, melted, plus additional soft butter for greasing the pan
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • 3 tablespoons of grated coconut 
  • 1 cup fine semolina
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

For the syrup:

  • 1½ cup sugar
  • 1¾ cup water
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • ¼ teaspoon lemon juice

To finish:

¼ cup sliced almonds

Elaboration:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a cake pan  and line the bottom with parchment.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and yogurt. Add the milk, coconut, sugar, yoghurt and baking powder. 
  3. Mix the semolina very well with butter or ghee until it is quite impregned.
  4. Slowly stir in basbousa with the liquids mix. Let the mixture stand until all liquids are absorbed.
  5. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a skewer withdraws clean. (If necessary, broil briefly to brown the top.)
  6. Meanwhile, while the cake bakes, prepare the syrup. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Turn heat to low and let simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Cool completely. Discard the cinnamon stick.
  7. As soon as the cake is removed from the oven, pour the syrup on the hot cake. Let cool completely. (Syrup must be fully absorbed into the cake.)
  8. Top the basbousa with the coconut and shaved almonds. Slice and serve. 

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