Name: Basbousa (Dairy-Free)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: Egyptian
Ingredients: 300 g Semolina; 100 g Desiccated coconut; 300 g Caster sugar; 80 g Coconut oil; 2 tsp Baking powder; 300 ml Water; 15 ml Lemon juice; 1 tbsp Rose water; 12 piece Whole almonds

About this dish

Basbousa is one of the oldest documented Egyptian sweets, built on the simple logic of pantry baking: semolina for body, sugar syrup for both sweetness and the moisture that keeps it tender for days. The traditional recipe leans on butter or ghee in the batter and sometimes a spoonful of yoghurt for tang — here, melted coconut oil takes the place of the dairy fat, and the coconut it's paired with in the batter means the swap barely changes the flavour the cake is already known for.

Vegan
Lactose-free
Contains gluten because of Semolina

Ingredients

12servings

300gSemolina
100gDesiccated coconut
300gCaster sugar
80gCoconut oil
2tspBaking powder
300mlWater
15mlLemon juice
1tbspRose water
12piecesWhole almonds

Instructions

Mix the semolina, desiccated coconut, sugar and baking powder together in a bowl.
5 min
Tip: Mixing the dry ingredients thoroughly first means the baking powder is evenly distributed before any liquid touches it — stir it in late and you get a cake that rises unevenly.
Stir in the melted coconut oil and water to make a thick, spreadable batter, pour into a greased tin, and score it into diamonds with a knife, pressing one almond into the centre of each.
10 min
Tip: Score the shapes before baking, not after — a baked semolina cake is far too tender to cut cleanly once it's set, but scores cut while raw hold their shape through baking.
Bake until deep golden on top and firm to the touch.
30 min
Tip: Semolina cakes firm up more in the last few minutes than they look like they will — resist pulling it early just because the centre still looks pale.
Meanwhile, simmer the remaining sugar with the water, lemon juice and half the rose water for 10 minutes to make a light syrup.
10 min
Tip: The lemon juice keeps this syrup from turning cloudy and grainy as it cools, the same job it does in any sugar syrup.
Stir the remaining rose water into the hot syrup and pour it evenly over the hot cake the moment it comes out of the oven, along the scored lines.
5 min
Tip: Hot syrup on hot cake is what lets it soak all the way to the bottom of the tin — pour it on a cooled cake and it mostly just sits on top.