I know I said I am a pluviophile, a rain lover and waxed eloquent about the pleasure of watching the drizzle from an open window munching some delicious hot snacks and how it awakens our senses and the calm and peace which follows and all that…yes..yes..I said all of that in my recent post but I never asked for lashing,pounding,hammering,incessant rains. It has been raining cats and dogs(I would rather say cows and horses) continuosly for more than a week. My beautiful city Hyderabad is battered and inundated due to rains which broke a 16 year record and have brought normal life to a standstill. There is a flood-like situation with vehicles floating in the water in several places.A high alert has been sounded by the weathermen.Schools and several shops have been ordered to shut down.People have been asked to stay indoors until water receded to avoid traffic snarls.I will not post pathetic pictures here because that is not how I want you to remember my lovely city.
I still love the rains(light drizzles 😉 to be precise) as long as we stay indoors that is.And when it is raining and we are cooped up at home,the next best thing to do is? …….bake ofcourse….because as I said before the cool breeze carries the delicious aroma from the kitchen to every corner of your home making all it’s inhabitants ravenous and bringing them out of their rooms to see what the lady of the house is baking.
But what I am missing most is the sunshine. Because I need sunlight to click my food pictures. I can never get them right with indoor lighting.While my basbousa was baking in the oven my eyes were constantly shifting from the oven to the balcony(my favorite place to shoot )wishing the rain would stop.Luckily, by the time it came out of the oven it had stopped raining and the sun shone mercifully,though in bits and pieces from amidst the clouds. It refused to shine on my balcony so I had to scout for it on the terrace of my house. God! What we food bloggers do for the love of blogging.So whatever pictures I have for this post are the result of running with the tray and the camera to places where the sun mischeviously chose to shine on the terrace of my home while the hungry family anxiously waited on the lower floor.
My realisation no.1: Nothing in excess is good,not even something you love!
My realisation no.2: I love the rains, but I lovvve the Sun too!!
Coming to the muse, Basbousa is is a native Egyptian and traditional Middle Eastern cake, made from semolina and flavored sugar syrup. It is also known as Revani (Turkish) Ravani(Greek/Persian)Harissa(Arabic)Namoura(Lebanese)and gabelouze(French)
I have found an ultimate recipe which can be made easily at home and is delicious.The internet is full of recipes for this traditional dessert. But if you like the look of it from the pictures,I will assure you of its taste. Don’t think twice. Just try it. It is best eaten warm like most baked goodies are. You can store whatever is left in the fridge after covering it with a plastic cling film. All you have to do is warm it up in your microwave whenever you feel like having a dessert.
Basbousa Recipe
Ingredients for the cake:
- 2 cups semolina
- 135g sugar
- 2tsps. baking powder
- 1 cup dessicated coconut
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cups butter melted
- 1 cup yogurt
- 2 tsps. vanilla essence
- 12 blanched almonds vertically sliced in two halves
Ingredients for the syrup:
- 2 cups sugar(a little less if you don’t like it too sweet)
- 2 cups water
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp. orange water/rose water
Method:
- Mix all the dry ingredients except sugar and keep separately.
- Cream the butter and sugar.
- Add the eggs and mix well.
- Add the yogurt and the essence.
- Add the dry mixture and blend well.
- Butter and dust a baking dish.
- Pour the basbousa batter in it gently and uniformly.
- Keep this dish in the fridge for half an hour.
- Meanwhile preheat the oven at 374ºF/190ºC
- Boil sugar with water for approximately 10 minutes. Take off heat and add lemon juice and orange/rose water.
- Remove the dish from the fridge and run a pizza cutter through the batter which must have firmed a bit by now, in such a way that it is divided into diamond shapes. Diamond shape is the traditional way of serving Basbousa.
- Press an almond half into each diamond piece.
- Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
- After 40 minutes put the dish under broiler if required for an additional 8 minutes to get a beautiful golden brown hue.
- Remove from oven and pour the sugar syrup all over the cake.
- Enjoy warm with a cup of tea or coffee.
Aromas and Flavors from my Kitchen 
beauty.. i love this stuff…Looks soooo good dear. this was incidently the last post i have written… ahhh when will i ever get back.
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I remember very well Trupti. I have been to your blog on and off to see if I have been missing some posts. I’m indeed missing your posts Trupti. Hope you are well!
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I am doing well dear 🙂 thank you! My new job is taking up a lot of my time and I travel a lot, leaving me less time to catch up with blogging. I really miss it. I hope to get back to it sometime 🙂
till then keep tempting me with your treats!
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All the best on your new job and your ventures Trupti. Have fun and take care. I will stay tuned to your delicious blog meanwhile ☺
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A sweet desert is the way to really enjoy any dreary day 😉
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Yes that’s so true. Some thing to brighten up your day☺
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Always ☺️
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I love syrup soaked desserts, especially cakes. It looks delicious and perfectly baked. I hope you see the sun soon 😀
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Thank you Antonia for liking and also for your little prayer 😉I hope so too
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Such a tasty looking cake. I just love syrup soaked desserts.
And you’re so right – nothing is good in excess. 🙂
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Thank you so much Ronit☺👍
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I will make this tomorrow for sure.Its so tempting.
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Please do. I’m sure you will love it ☺ 👍
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This is my favorite! Simple and so so yummy
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Thank you Archana☺
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I have tasted this once .. I loved it .. But never know how to make it .. This recipe sounds so yummy !
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This recipe turns out incredibly good. Please do try it. Only thing is you may find 2 cups of sugar in the syrup a little bit sweeter. You may reserve a bit of syrup and add if you want to. I wanted to add this bit in the notes.☺
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Hmmm, tI have never tried these but know what…I am gonna give them a go from your recipe xxx
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You must try it Sheh! It is very easy. And I am sure you will love it ☺
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I give many of your gorgeous recipes a try and blooming wonderful they are too even for a klutz like me xx
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Thank you for your kind words Sheh☺
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I adore syrupy desserts like this one! We are often being given these as thank-you gifts at work, can’t wait to try it 🙂
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Wow!That’s indeed a sweet gesture. Thank you for liking and stopping by Marisa 👍☺
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Ummmm looks ry yummy and delicious 🙂
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Ummmm looks very yummy and delicious🙂
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Thank you Sindhu☺
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Love rain, haha can relate to running here and there while family waits and wonders 😀 These days even in September it is raining too much. Now dear Ana, Basbousa looks very delicious. Drooling right now and the pictures look perfect !! Happy weekend.
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Haha! I am glad you agree. Don’t we bloggers do that😉Camera comes first on hierarchy.
And thank you Arohi. As usual you come like a breath of fresh air and spread your joy all over💖💖💖💖
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You are always welcome dear🌹 it is always a pleasure being here and reading your posts 💖
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Looks fabulous !
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Thank you Freda☺
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Love the moist in that dessert. A perfect treat of the day from you. Thanks for this share:)
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Thank you for liking it. Though it would have been well presented on your table.
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😊:)
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Ana, if only I could get a piece of that Basbousa right now…..I am drooling all over the keyboard here 😉
Looks super delicious!
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Yummm…looks sooooo juicy and tempting…can actually feel it melting in the mouth..😋😋😋😋👌👌👌👌
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Thank you Neetu☺It turns out quite well and is very easy to make. How is your health now?
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I am much better now..thank you..💞💞🍫🍫
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You poor thing, I completely feel your pain about the absence of sun. I call it, ‘chasing daylight’, haha!!
It really is a pain to do all that just for the right shot butttttt – sometimes it’s so worth it. Like now 🙂
xx
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You termed it just right😉Chasing daylight. That is exactly what I was doing with a camera and the tray. Maybe a professional photographer wouldn’t have done that but I am a novice at photography and needed all the running around 😀
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mhmm, i totally get it. I have a lightbox…you the one that allows the professionals to create artificial lighting so THEY don’t need to chase daylight? I have yet STILL prefer to chase daylight for some reason, haha!
It makes my pictures look more…authentic…especially the in-process shots. I feel you can only use the lightbox for the final presentation shots.
Sigh. Like you said, food blogger problems.
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Haha! Thanks for the suggestion. Your pictures are always amazing and natural. Actually I have not seen you shooting indoors ever!
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And thank you for the last line😍😘😘
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❤ ❤ ❤
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Reblogged this on Once Upon a Spice and commented:
Sweets for the Sweet From AromasAndFlavours.com. Beautiful!
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Thank you so much Lana☺👍
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You’re SO welcome! 🙂
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Oh dearie me Ana, it looks like your beautiful city is a deluge at the moment. There’s never a good time is there and with global warming, it looks like the entire world is suffering with these catastrophes. We are finally enjoying cooler weather here on the East side of the USA, it was a dreadful hot and humid summer, so I’m welcoming Autumn with open arms. 🙂 I had to laugh at your picture routine, chasing the sun wherever it may land. You’re right, us bloggers will stand on our heads to get just that right hue. Love basbousa, yours looks so tempting!
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Aww. .thank you Loretta! I am so glad you liked the picture. Made my running on the terrace worth it. And you know what my neighbour lady who was supervising some work on her terrace was giving me amused looks. So for a while I just hid the tray ,gave her a courteous smile and pretended to do some work till she disappeared into her home. I still can’t help laughing when I recall that day😀
And I think we have to get used to extreme weather conditions in future unfortunately.
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I have always wanted to make basbousa and now I am inspired. Your pictures are fabulous and glad the sun came through to light up your dessert!
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Haha! Thank you Zeba. It did decide to shine on the dessert after playing some hide and seek 😉
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Beautiful… Love this moisture full sweet. Looks amazing
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Thank you Ruchi ☺👍
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Perfect baking weather I’d say. Those look divine👌💕. I’ve been meaning to try out a couple of recipes for this, and now you just convinced me to do just that😉.
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Aww…thank you Marsay. I am so glad you liked it. Because you live in a place which is the origin of this dish. It is a big compliment coming from you ☺
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Pleasure dear. However we are back home now in South Africa, until life sweeps us off to another destination😉
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Yoo hoo! Nothing like home. Enjoy dear 🌻🌻🌻🌻
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Yum! And very pretty too.
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Thank you 😉
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Looks beautiful
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Thank you so much
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I bet it tastes even better than it looks… great for those ones that like sweet, fruity things (me, included).
Sending love best wishes, SKD!. Aquileana 😀
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Thank you dear Aqui! That is an awesome thing to say. It was delicious. A crispy crust and a soft centre. Totally yumm..
Lots of love and regards to you too ☺
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Wow!! I loved your blog. I can smell the tempting aroma of various cuisines… ahh. ❤
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Thank you Shreya! Thats an awesome thing to say. I loved browsing through your blog too. I need to revisit in leisure and enjoy your posts.
Best wishes and regards ☺
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same here. In fact I think to try out a new recipee. I’ll surely notify you when I try. ❤
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Wow!Would love to hear your feedback 👍☺
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I have never tried this, but it looks and sounds wonderfully delicious! I am so sorry to hear about all the heavy rain and flooding in your area. This seems to be the year for this! I agree on the part of liking the rain, watching and listening to it fall is soothing …But not as much as you are saying. We too had record breaking flooding in my city and county and a lot of people lost their homes and belongings …very tough times …but it has passed and all is back to normal, and the sun is shining brightly through my window now. Sending it your way … 🙂 ❤ Hugs!
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I am so glad to hear everything is normal there. Even here the city is back to its usual busy and vibrant self. I guess time heals most of the things. But we can’t say we weren’t warned about these extremities in weather by the experts due to global warming. I hope we can do our little bit in climate control.
Thank you Arl for liking the recipe. Have a wonderful weekend ahead ☺
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Looks so elegant and tasty! I love the yogurt and vanilla essence ingredients.
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Thank you so much. The combination of flavors is lovely.
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New recipe i never seen till now…that too with sooji 👍☺️💐😊👌👌 looking very yummy….thanks for sharing ☺️👍💐👌🤗💖💗
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Thank you. It tastes delicious 👌☺
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👍💐
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This looks amazing!!! 🙂 Definitely want to try ! 🙂 Thanks for sharing 😉
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Thank you so much. You must try it. It is delicious ☺
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I will! For sure 🙂 Already saved the recipe 🙂
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Gotta try this
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Please do! I am sure you will love it. Thank you for stopping by.
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Yw ill be back
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