Basbousa bil-Lawz (Cairo Semolina & Almond Tray Cake) 🟨

Name: Basbousa bil-Lawz (Cairo Semolina & Almond Tray Cake)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 2-4 servings
Cuisine: Egyptian
Ingredients: 200 g fine-to-medium semolina (not couscous-size); 150 g plain full-fat yogurt, at room temperature; 100 g sugar + 60 g melted butter or ghee; 1 egg, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 pinch of salt; 1 tbsp orange blossom water or rose water; Handful of blanched whole almonds for decoration; Syrup: 250 g sugar + 250 ml water + 1 tbsp lemon juice, boiled 6 minutes, then 1 tbsp orange blossom water

Every Cairo household has a basbousa recipe, and every one of them insists theirs is the one that finally gets the texture right: no crumbs, no grit, but a soft, sandy-moist crumb that gives like a warm pillow and drinks the orange-blossom syrup without dissolving. The trick is the soak — semolina bound with yogurt and a small amount of flour, studded with whole almonds, and left to rest so the grains swell before baking. It is dessert for funerals and for football finals, cut in diamonds, eaten standing in the kitchen. Cool it, syrup it, and it improves overnight — which is the entire argument against making less than a full tray.

Cairo Governorate Egyptian ⏱ 75 min Easy

Method

1

Make the syrup first and cool it fully — cold syrup onto hot cake is the rule that separates basbousa from wet sand.
2

Whisk yogurt, sugar, egg, melted butter and orange blossom water smooth. Stir in semolina, baking powder and salt. It will look too loose; that's correct.
3

Let it sit 30 minutes uncovered so the semolina swells. If it's still soup after 30, work in up to 1 tbsp more semolina; if it's paste, loosen with a spoon of yogurt.
4

Spread in a greased 24–26 cm tray, smooth the top, and press almonds into a diamond or floral pattern. Tap the tray once to settle air pockets.
5

Bake 180 °C for 28–35 minutes until the top is gold and the edges begin to part from the pan; a skewer comes out with a few damp crumbs, not runny batter.
6

Out of the oven, wait 3 minutes, then ladle about two-thirds of the cold syrup over in a slow spiral. Let it drink for 15–20 minutes, add more syrup only if the center still feels dry.
7

Cut into diamonds once fully cool. Keep at room temperature under a loose cover for 2 days — if it survives.

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Basbousa bil-Lawz (Cairo Semolina & Almond Tray Cake) 🟨

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