BASBOUSSA- OR THE ULTIMATE QUICK FIX FOR A SUGAR HIGH

You may have noticed (or may not have noticed, if you're new here- welcome in that case!) that many of the recipes on my blog are Middle Eastern. Everything has a reason of course- in this case it would be because part of my origins are from that part of the world. Countries like Syria or Lebanon boast with glorious culinary specialties, especially when it comes to my favourite part of any meal- dessert. For instance, I had featured a post on the famous ''knafeh bil jibne'' not too long ago, which is a very popular sweet treat in Levant countries. However, Egypt (to me it's part of the Middle East even if it's on the African continent! you can of course agree to disagree!) is not what I would consider a country famous for it's sweets, wouldn't you say? I mean of course, it has a tremendous pride in it's version of falafels, but desserts? Could you name one on the top of your head? If not, then let me introduce you to one of my all time favourites: basboussa. Now many will argue on it's name or origin, but this will always be the case for Oriental recipes. Every country will claim that it is the inventor of this dish or that dish and names can vary across the region. Take the most common example- who invented hummus? falafels? shawarma? These kind of questions can result in never ending debates, I assure you! So it's best to avoid them and just focus on enjoying the delicious food instead- best advice I can give :)

I used a cake mould- but note that this is not the common way to make basboussa.

Back to basboussa- this is maybe one of the most loved desserts in Egypt, and the best versions I have ever tried are the ones made in Egypt. The only thing missing would be a big warning sign on it as it's terribly addictive. I mean, ridiculously addictive. Something to do with it's buttery yet crumbly texture and it's uber-sweetness, and that each bite literally melts in your mouth like an icecube on a hot pan and yet even after a second, third, dare I say fourth serving, you still feel like you haven't eaten anything! Dangerous stuff I tell you!

Basboussa has a very crumbly texture, but that is part of it's charm!

On the upside however, it is one of the easiest sweets to make- it seriously takes five minutes to prepare. FIVE MINUTES! All you need is fine semolina, butter, milk, shredded coconut, and sugar! Five key ingredients, five delicious minutes. Need I say more?

Recipe for Basboussa

(note that there are many different versions of this recipe and each country has it's own name for this dessert. The version below is a common Egyptian recipe)

200gr fine semolina

100gr sugar

100gr grated coconut

150gr milk

100gr butter

Almonds (optional, for decoration. It is important however that they be either blanched full almonds or slivered blanched almonds)

For the syrup:

2 cups water + 2 cups sugar + 1 tablespoon orange blossom water

*In this case, a cup = a drinking cup (approx 300-400ml in size). Just fill up the cups with the ingredients, no need to weigh or use proper measuring cups for the syrup.

Preheat oven to 200C. Melt the milk and butter together. In a bowl, mix the fine semolina, sugar and grated coconut. Then add the milk and butter on the dry ingredients- mix well. Pour mixture into a baking tray, top off with almonds, and bake for 30 minutes. Check to see if ready- it should form a beautiful golden crust. If necessary, extend baking time for another 10 minutes.

While the basboussa is in the oven, prepare the syrup by boiling the water and sugar together on high heat. When it reaches it starts bubbling, let it continue boiling for 5-10 minutes so that it becomes a thick syrup. At the end, add the orange blossom water. Set aside.

Once the basboussa is baked and out of the oven, immediately pour the syrup gently and slowly over. Let cool for at least an hour- when it's hot it will be too difficult to slice up.

BREAKING NEWS!

Quick update- I've just come back from a very spontaneous session in the kitchen...and...in sticking to homemade gelato goodness, can I just say that if you ever venture down chocolate lane, please add some orange blossom water AND cardamom. It has to be both together, preferably! What wonders it will do to your chocolate gelato (or ice cream, whatever you decide to do!) It will provide a lovely tingle to your tastebuds, the orange blossom water with the cardamom make a beautiful symphony with the chocolate.

I thought this was news worth sharing- give this flavour combination a try next time!

x

Marianna

Recipe for chocolate gelato with orange blossom water & cardamom:

300ml milk

300ml liquid cream
100gr brown sugar
1 tablespoon orange blossom water
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
20gr unsweetened cocoa
100gr 70% chocolate, chopped
300ml cold milk + 1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a pot, heat 300ml milk with the cream, sugar, orange blossom water and ground cardamom in a pot. Then add the cocoa and baking chocolate, stir and make sure the chocolate has fully melted into the mixture. Just make sure that during this process, the milk and cream doesn't burn. In a cup, mix the cornstarch with 300ml of cold milk- make sure the cornstarch has dissolved completely, then add to the pot and keep mix over heat for two minutes. Remove from heat, chill in fridge for at least two hours before transfering to your ice cream machine. Follow manufacturer's instructions, and enjoy either immediately or place mixture in freezer for a couple of hours.

CANT GET ENOUGH OF KNAFEH BIL JIBNE!

Mmmm... a bite of crunch combined with creaminess, straight out of the oven, with a drizzle of orange-blossom scented syrup... knafeh bil jibne is a firm favourite here at home when it comes to desserts. Actually, this is not the first time I write about this middle eastern dessert on my blog, but last time I presented it in a fun bite size form- which, I'm pretty sure, you would never find in any Middle Eastern shop or restaurant. They just dont make them like that as the traditional way is really to prepare it in a gigantic round pan that could feed an entire country! I've tried taking lots of photos to show a step-by-step method of making this delicious dessert at home...just incase you get that sudden craving and there is no place nearby to indulge into a ready made slice!

The key ingredient here is knafeh- you can find this in Middle Eastern food shops.

A mixture of the right cheeses explains the creamy inner magic of a knafeh bil jibne. You will need a mixture of akkawi cheese (here on the left, the texture is more goey) and haloumi cheese (on the right, with a firmer texture). These cheeses are salty, so you will need to leave them in a bowl of cold water for 48hours in the fridge to remove saltiness. Make sure to change the water at least twice during the 48hours.

Place your knafeh in a mixer

And shred it. Some shops might sell knafeh that is already shredded- so in that case skip this step.

In a bowl, mix all the shredded knafeh with a generous (and I mean it literally here- you need to be extremely generous) amount of melted butter- or even better, if you have ghee then use that instead. Make sure the knafeh is well coated with the melted butter or ghee and take half of the quantity and spread a layer of it on a baking tray.

Then top on diced akkawi and haloumi cheese

And cover that with the remaining half of the knafeh

Bake at 190C for 20 minutes, then check every 5 minutes. It will be ready when it has a nice golden colour. Once out of the oven, immediately pour over some orange-blossom scented (or rose water if you prefer) syrup

It needs to be well soaked in the syrup, so dont be shy!

If you want, you can sprinkle some pistachio on top

Slice it up and enjoy immediately- eating it cold is a big no-no!

Hopefully the photos make it easy to understand, so I'm not including a recipe, but here is an overview of the ingredients you will need:

Raw knafeh
Akkawi cheese, diced
Haloumi cheese, diced
Butter or ghee, melted
Pistachios- optional

The important thing here is to coat the shredded knafeh very generously with the melted butter or ghee- otherwise the end result is too dry.
I understand these ingredients may not be easily available everywhere, so a cheat method if you cant find akkawi and haloumi cheese is to use mozzarella instead. In that case, you don't need to soak in water as mozzarella tends to be less salty.
For the syrup place equal amounts of sugar and water and boil for a good 10 mins (until it’s texture is rather thick). At the end, add some orange blossom or rose water to the syrup.

FYI-Although they might all be eating the same thing, this name for this scrumptious dessert does vary from country to country!