Slow Food Saddleback Recipes

Sweet Semolina Cake – Basbousa

From “Food Safari" by Maeve O'Meara

Ingredients

2½ cups coarse semolina
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup sugar
½ cup self-raising flour
200g thick yoghurt
200g unsalted butter – melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
25-30 blanched almonds
Milk if needed

SYRUP
1½ cups sugar
250 ml water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon rose water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 190 deg. C
Mix semolina, coconut, sugar, flour, yoghurt, melted butter and vanilla in a bowl. If the mixture seems too stiff, add a little milk, but it should be fairly stiff.

Spread the the dough with your hands into a buttered 30 x 25 x 5cm baking tray. Cut it into diamond shapes pressing hard. Place an almond into the centre of each diamond. Bake for 35-40 mins until golden brown.

Meanwhile make the syrup. Place the sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Simmer for 5 mins without stirring. Stir in the lemon juice and rose water, remove from heat and leave to cool. Pour the syrup over the cake while the cake is still hot.

Cool to serve. Makes 25-30 biscuits.