Basbousa – Semolina Cake

I have a very good Moroccan friend back in Washington DC who would whip up basbousa in the afternoons for a snack for our kids.  When I would come to pick up my youngest (she was our babysitter too) she would have warm pieces of cake held over for me to have a taste.  Yesterday, in a completely introspective mood, missing my friends that we left behind I decided to make this cake to surprise my husband.  (Plus I found a great cake stand on after Christmas clearance and I “needed” to use it!)  This is a very simple and quick cake to put together.


Basbousa
Cake Ingredients
2c fine semolina 
1 c all purpose flour
1 c sugar
1c 2% milk
1 tsp salt
1 stick of butter 


Syrup Ingredients
1 c water
1 c sugar
3-4 tsp honey


Directions:
1.  On medium heat melt the butter into the milk until combined and warm
2.  Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Pour warm milk and butter into dry ingredients and mix well.  The mixture will not be as thin as cake batter – that is ok.  
4.  Preheat the oven to 375F.  Grease pan with butter and pour the batter into a baking dish – the cake will not rise, and should be a thickness of 1/4″ – 1/2″.  
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is browned.


To prepare syrup:
In a saucepan combine water, sugar and honey.  Allow to cook for 5-10  minutes until it has reduced to a syrup.  


When cake is removed from the oven, place onto serving dish and cover with syrup.  You may want to poke the cake with a fork to allow the syrup to permeate into the cake.  You can top with nuts, or powdered sugar or coconut.