Algerian Basboussa - Semolina Cake With Syrup

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of coarse semolina
• 1 cup plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened dried shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup sunflower oil
• 1 lemon, zest of (finely grated)
• 1 cup yogurt
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
• 3 cups water
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon orange flower water (add a little more if you like it very fragrant)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• blanched whole almond

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 180°c grease a large baking dish (approx. 11" x7").
• 2 in a pan, place the sugar & water from the 'syrup ingredients', bring to the boil then simmer until you have a pale golden colour. remove from the heat & stir in the lemon juice & the orange flower water. set aside to cool, you can also store this syrup in the fridge until you need to use it.
• 3 place all the wet ingredients in a large bowl & using a hand mixer, mix until creamy. add the dry ingredients a little at a time & mix well.
• 4 pour into your baking dish & level off the surface with the back of a dessert spoon or palett knife. with a small knife, score the surface into equal squares or diamonds & place a blanced almond in the centre of each square / diamond.
• 5 bake in the oven until golden - this will take approximately 30-40 minutes.
• 6 remove from the oven & cut through the scored squares / diamonds. pour the syrup over the top & allow the basboussa to soak up the syrup before serving. it is best to leave it for at least 2 hours for best results.