Best Coconut Halva Basbousa Recipes

BASBOUSA: ALMOND COCONUT SEMOLINA CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the butter in a small bowl and melt in the microwave. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine together the sugar and yogurt. Now add in the semolina, baking powder and milk. Finally stir in the melted butter, and let the mixture sit briefly so that the butter is absorbed.
• Transfer the semolina mixture into a lightly greased 9"-round cake pan or baking dish. Bake in the 350 degrees F-heated oven for about 40-45 minutes. If necessary, broil ever so briefly so that the top of the basbousa gains color. Watch carefully. When ready, remove from oven.
• While the cake is baking, prepare the cinnamon simple syrup. In a small sauce pan or pot, combine the sugar, water and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil on high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Turn heat to low and let cook for a few minutes until the syrup thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Let cool completely, then remove the cinnamon stick.
• As soon as the basbousa is removed from the oven, pour the cool syrup on the hot basbousa. Let cool completely; syrup must be absorbed into the cake. For best result, let it sit for 1 hour before serving.
• When ready to serve, top the cake with the coconut chips and the coconut and shaved almonds. Slice and enjoy!

COCONUT BASBOUSA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Mix all cake batter the ingredients in a stand mixer bowl on slow speed until well combined.
• Brush a non stick 9 x 13 x 3 inch pan with tahini paste (both bottom and sides). Pour in the batter and spread the dough out with a spatula or your palm to even is out. Cover and let the batter rest for 1hr to absorb all the moisture.
• Cut out the Basbousa into whatever shape you want. Squares and Diamonds are best. Place a piece of half an almond on top of each piece.
• Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes until golden brown in color. You can turn on the top broiler for a couple of minutes before removing it from the oven to add a more deeper brown color to the top if needed. Watch closely if you do that.
• Right when you remove from the cake from the oven, evenly pour out the sugar syrup onto the cake. I like using a squeezable dispenser bottle to do that.
• Let the cake completely cool at room temperature before cutting through to get a perfect cut. Sprinkle some shredded coconut on the Basbousa before serving.

COCONUT HALVA (BASBOUSA)

Steps:

• Prepare the simple syrup first by placing the sugar, water, and lemon juice into a pan, stirring to mix and bring to boil. Simmer for about 6-8 minutes until the syrup has thickened just a little. Stir in rosewater if using. Allow syrup to cool then chill.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan melt the butter. Add the sugar, flour, semolina, coconut, milk, baking powder and almond extract, mix thoroughly. Do not allow to burn.
• Pour the mixture into a buttered 8" square baking pan, flatten the top and bake in oven for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden.
• Remove halva from oven and cut diagonally so that you have diamond shaped portions. Prick the cake all over using a toothpick. Pour the chilled simple syrup evenly over the top and decorate with a whole almond on each diamond shaped piece. Serve hot or at room temperature.