Oh to indulge in the delectable sweetness and fluffiness of a basbousa bil ashta! Basbousa is a semolina cake traditional in the Egyptian culture and the variation with Ashta makes it a dreamy indulgence. The semolina cake is native to many cultures and you might have heard of it by the many other names it goes by.
The Lebanese call this cake Namoura, the Palestinians call it Harisseh, the Egyptians call it Basbousa, and the Greeks calls it Revani. Each culture possibly has a little twist to the recipe that makes it authentic to their region. I’ve wanted to try this cake out for the longest time and found myself craving it, so I decided to put it together.
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What Makes This Basbousa Bil Ashta Incredible?
- Samolina Sandwich: The interesting thing about this cake is that it is baked twice. You can’t bake the whole cake and then divide it into two parts and add the cream in. You must divide your cake batter into two equal parts. Cook the base layer first. Prepare your ashta or cream separately. Layer it over the base cake layer. Allow it to cool down just a little so it sets in place. And then pour the remaining cake batter on top and bake again.
- Sugar Syrup: The cake batter itself uses very little sugar and once all three layers are stacked and it is baked for the final time, the hot cake is doused in sugar syrup. You can flavor your sugar syrups with orange extract or rose water. I used cardamom for this recipe just to add a subtle South Asian twist to the flavor profile.
- Ashta (Cream): To be honest, I initially thought that the cream layer was just heavy cream. It’s not. It’s a decadent mixture of milk, some corn flour, cream and cream cheese. I was a bit skeptical about the addition of corn flour because I was worried it would take on a very pudding-like texture, but it actually turned out incredible.
To be fair, this cake does take quite some time to bake and prepare. Mostly, because the basbousa needs to be baked in parts, the cream must be prepared separately, and the sugar syrup also needs to be prepared on its own. However, the end result is a magnificently creamy, rich and indulgent delight.
TIP: If you want to add yet another flavorful layer to this basbousa bil ashta, here’s a little tip: grease your pan with tahini paste instead of butter. Not only will that cut through the sweetness, but it will add a new layer of flavors to your cake.
I added shredded coconut to the basbousa cake batter as well. Even though you can just use semolina and that would be fine, I thought the texture of coconut would go perfectly with the semolina. And it sure did.
The coconut flavor does not stand out much at all and that’s coming from someone who is very averse to coconut in food in general. So if you’re not a fan of coconut, you can leave it out. Or you can incorporate it because, trust me, it doesn’t taste like coconut at all.
Basbousa bil Ashta | Cream Filled Semolina Cake
8
servings40
minutes40
minutes1
hour20
minutesKeep your device screen on
Ingredients
- For the basbousa cake batter
2 eggs
1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup butter or oil
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup semolina
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 pinches salt
- For the ashta (cream) filling
1 cup milk
1 tbsp corn flour
1/2 cup cream
2 tbsp cream cheese
- For the sugar syrup
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
1 slice lemon
2 cardamom pods
- For the garnish
pistachios or almonds
rose petals
coconut flakes
Directions
- For the basbousa cake batter
- Preheat your oven to 180 °C.
- In a bowl, mix your eggs, yogurt, milk, vanilla and butter and whisk together well.
- In a separate bowl, combine your semolina, coconut flakes, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together well.
- Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients, and whisk together thoroughly.
- Divide your batter into two parts.
- Line your cake pan with parchment papers or grease with butter or tahini. Add half of your batter and bake for 15-20 minutes.
- For the ashta (cream) filling
- Place a pan over medium heat and add your milk and corn flour.
- Whisk well and continuously so your filling doesn’t clump together. Cook for 5 minutes or until you see the milk start to thicken.
- Now add your cream and cream cheese.
- Cook for another 5 minutes until you have a smooth, thick and creamy filling.
- For the basbousa cake batter
- Remove your first layer of basbousa from the oven once baked. Pour over the hot ashta (cream) filling and level it out into a clean flat layer.
- Allow the cream to cool down for 5-10 minutes or until you notice the surface turn shiny and a thing film starts to form.
- Now it’s time to add the second half of your basbousa cake batter.
- Gently pat and level it in place until it covers the cream layer completely.
- Return your basbousa to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes using the top grill setting only.
- For the sugar syrup
- Place a pot over medium heat. Add your sugar, water, lemon slice and cardamom pods.
- Cook your sugar syrup until the sugar melts completely and the syrup begins to boil and thicken. This should take about 10 minutes.
- Remove the syrup from the flame and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Assembly
- Once your basbousa has fully baked, remove it from the oven and pour the slightly cooled down syrup over the hot cake immediately.
- Allow the syrup to soak through.
- Garnish your cake with pistachios or almonds, coconut flakes, and rose petals.
- Your cake should set for at least 4 hours or overnight so it holds shape and delivers the best flavors.
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