I love this cake! It's made with Cream of Wheat, so as far as I'm concerned it's the perfect breakfast food. When my girls were young we had to make food from another country as part of a Girl Scout project. We found a recipe for Basboussa, an Egyptian cake. I tweaked the recipe just a bit. If you make this I'd love to know what you think of it!
Lucky Basboussa
Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
1-3/4 cups water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
14-oz. box regular Cream of Wheat (not instant)
3 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
8-oz. container plain non-fat yogurt
non-stick cooking spray
48 almond slices
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Stir 2 cups of granulated sugar and 1-3/4 cups of water together in a medium-sized saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil, but don't stir it. Let it simmer for 15 minutes. Dip the end of a spoon into the syrup. When you pull the spoon out, the syrup should leave a light coating on the spoon (if it doesn't, let it simmer a few more minutes and try again). Let the syrup cool while you prepare the cake.
Put 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, and a 14-oz. box of regular Cream of Wheat in a medium-size mixing bowl. Pour the melted margarine and yogurt into the mixing bowl with the other ingredients and stir until it is evenly mixed.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Use non-stick cooking spray to lightly grease a 9 x 12" baking pan. Dump the mixture for the cake into the middle of the pan. Use a rubber spatula to spread the batter evenly in the pan.
Use the end of a toothpick to lightly score the basboussa into squares. Draw 7 lines across the 12" sides and 5 lines across the 9" sides. Be careful not to push all the way to the bottom. Lightly press an almond slice into the top of each square.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the edges just start to turn brown.
Place the cake on a wire rack to cool.
Stir 1 teaspoon of lemon juice into the syrup. Carefully pour the syrup over the cake. It will look like you have too much syrup, but the cake will absorb all of the extra syrup.
Use a sharp knife to cut all the way through the scores you made earlier. Let the cake sit until it has absorbed all of the syrup.
