Algerian Basboussa - Semolina Cake With Syrup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

For the Basboussa
1 1/2 cups of coarse semolina
1 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened dried shredded coconut
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup sunflower oil
1 lemon, zest of (finely grated)
1 cup yogurt
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
For the Syrup
3 cups water
3 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon orange flower water (add a little more if you like it very fragrant)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
To Decorate
blanched whole almond

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180\u00b0C Grease a large baking dish (approx. 11\" x7\").
In a pan, place the sugar & water from the 'Syrup Ingredients', bring to the boil then simmer until you have a pale golden colour. Remove from the heat & stir in the lemon juice & the orange flower water. Set aside to cool, you can also store this syrup in the fridge until you need to use it.
Place all the wet ingredients in a large bowl & using a hand mixer, mix until creamy. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time & mix well.
Pour into your baking dish & level off the surface with the back of a dessert spoon or palett knife. With a small knife, score the surface into equal squares or diamonds & place a blanced almond in the centre of each square / diamond.
Bake in the oven until golden - this will take approximately 30-40 minutes.
Remove from the oven & cut through the scored squares / diamonds. Pour the syrup over the top & allow the Basboussa to soak up the syrup before serving. It is best to leave it for at least 2 hours for best results.