Harissa Coconut Cake (Basbousa)

Ingredients

• 2 cups medium semolina
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk or yogurt
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 3 eggs
• 1 packet vanilla or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 packet baking powder or 2 teaspoons
• Zest of one lemon
• Sesame seeds
• Nuts as desired
• Syrup (attar) to drizzle over the cake
• Syrup:
• Dissolve 2 cups sugar in 1 cup water.
• Put in a saucepan with a splash of orange blossom water and a squeeze of lemon.
• Let the syrup boil for about 7 minutes.
• Let it cool before pouring over the cake.
• This harissa recipe was shared by a friend and cook in the "What Are We Cooking Today" group:
• Fatima Abdullah
• Click Fatima’s name to visit her page and see all her delicious recipes
• For Fatima’s filled-maamoul recipe see: Filled Maamoul with Cream

Method

1. Mix all ingredients together except the sesame and nuts.
2. Let the batter rest for about one hour.
3. Pour it into a baking tray and sprinkle with sesame and nuts. Bake at 180°C (350°F) on the middle rack for about 40 minutes, or until done.
   Timers: 40 min
4. When the cake comes out of the oven, pour the cold syrup over it immediately.
5. Let the cake cool to room temperature before serving.