Basseema/ Bassima ~ Egyptian Coconut Cake

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I have been wanting to post this and I am so excited that it is finally making its way to this space of mine! The season now is such that we do a lot of barbecuing. HD is least interested but his cousin love to arrange everything and most of the time, we only need to be present and eat what they make! 😉 Freshly barbecued chicken with some hummus and khubboos is definitely our favorite winter time foods for dinner over weekend. The men will be doing everything while we women huddle at a corner to chit chat and the kids play their energies out. It is always a time we all look forward to, and definitely I am looking forward to the start during this season too, InShaAllah… 🙂 Everytime we go for it, all the men expect me to make something sweet and take as the sign off dish, so they do the parties on Fridays so that I have enough of time to think of what I want to make. Hehe… I made this dish during one of our last barbeque parties we had… now don’t ask me when it was! As I scheduled this post, the temptation of making this again popped up, and I made it over the weekend, a part for my colleagues, a part for our building watchman and another part for HD’s staff, and my colleagues ranked it as one of the best things they have ever eaten made by me… 🙂 That is certificate enough for all of you to try this as soon as possible… 😉

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When you look at it, you may think it is Basbousa, but no, it isn’t. Yes, both are of Egyptian origin but the highlight of Basbousa is semolina, while in the Basseema, it is coconut. It is all in and out coconut – loads and loads of it! I have tried Basbousa a couple of times but didn’t like how it turned out to be, so I keep trying till I get a recipe that has satisfied me. The inspiration to make this was this video, and even though it is slightly sweeter that I would love it to, I didn’t have even a single piece leftover. In fact, HD and B came back asking me the next day if I had kept some in the pantry, but unfortunately I hadn’t. So when I made it again, I made sure I kept some extra for them. 😉 It is an out-to-out party dessert, very rich and best when enjoyed in small bites. The texture is literally melt in mouth as you can see. You bite in and it just sinks into your throat. The best part about it is that it is so easy to make, literally you just dump in all ingredients in a large bowl and fold in till all become moist, pour into a pan and bake. Then pour the lukewarm syrup on the hot cake and allow it to soak up everything for around two to three hours. If you have a party coming up, I would suggest you try this. I can promise that you will get raving reviews from your guests about how delicious this one tastes… 🙂 Off to the recipe…

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4.50 from 4 votes

Basseema ~ Egyptian Coconut Cake

Course Dessert

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours

Servings 10 -12

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• FOR CAKE:
• 2 cups dessicated coconut + more for sprinkling
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup milk powder
• 3 tbsp custard powder or cornflour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup cream
• 3/4 cup yogurt
• 1/2 cup oil
• FOR SUGAR SYRUP:
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp rose water
• 1/2 tin condensed milk

Instructions

• Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook for around 15 to 20 minutes, or till it becomes syrupy.
• Pull out from heat, whisk in the condensed milk and rose water. Allow to come to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
• Mix all the ingredients for the cake till well combined. Grease a large glass pan and pour the batter.
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes till the sides are cooked and the cake pulls from the sides.
• Take out the cake and immediately pour the syrup all over the cake.
• Sprinkle more dessicated coconut all over and leave the cake undisturbed for an hour or even more till the syrup is all soaked up.
• Sprinkle more dessicated coconut, cut into squares and serve! Makes around 30 squares.

Notes

Initially I had used 2/3 cup of sugar and I found it really sweet. Then I reduced it to 1/2 cup and it seemed fine for us. You can use upto 2/3 cup if you like yours on the higher side.
Replacing custard powder with cornflour will make the cake look more whitish than yellow.