my jerusalem kitchen

Don’t you just want to roll around in a bed of coconut? Yeah, nope, I don’t want to either. But I don’t mind if my chocolate does! Oh my god, these were so fun to make! I took my version of Basbousa Cake (an Egyptian/Lebanese/Syrian/Greek semolina cake soaked in rose water scented syrup), minus the syrup, and cut it into bite-sized squares, dipped them in melted dark chocolate and rolled them in shredded coconut. They were perfectly sweet, light, and fluffy and went amazingly with tea, my diet, and each layer felt like its own distinctive treat. I will definitely make these again and they were gone in minutes!

What you need:

1/2 c unsalted butter (you could substitute oil for this, or reduce it to 1/4, but if you do, increase the yogurt to 1 cup)

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 c semolina

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 c plain yogurt (though vanilla would probably be delicious)

1 bag of dark chocolate chips (or any other form of chocolate you like)

2-3 cups of ground coconut (you wont use this much but having extra around makes coating them much easier)

Makes 24 small little guys

How to do it:

Combine butter, sugar and vanilla until somewhat fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat each one well before adding the next. The semolina and baking powder should be mixed together separately and then slowly added to the butter batter, alternating with the yogurt.

Once combined, pour the batter into a 7 x 11 baking tray (or whatever you have, just make sure that cake will get tall and not spread out thin) and place the almonds on top of the batter and spread them out so that when you cut the cake each slice has its own almond either resting flat or sticking up straight if your using slivers. Cook for 35-40 minutes but check at 30 minutes. The cake is done when it has a goldeny top.

Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes, and while it’s cooling, melt the chocolate chips. If you have a microwave, then I’m jealous. If you don’t, create a double-boiler by boiling water in a small pot and placing a glass bowl on top filled with the chocolate chips. The heat from the water will melt the chocolate without burning it, and you just need to keep stirring every minute or so. Make sure the bowl that the chocolate will be in is at least an inch above the water.

Once that’s done, head over to your cake. Cut off that goldeny top and if any of the edges have browned, cut those off too. Eat them? I couldn’t resist… Now cut your cake into tiny squares.

Cover a plate with a thick layer of coconut. Dip all sides of your square into the chocolate, scrape the edges clean with the dull side of a knife, and then stand your square up in the coconut. Pour coconut on the top, drag it up from the plate and cover both sides. Grab the sides that are covered and roll the still-chocolate-covered sides into the coconut. Do the same for all the squares and lick yo’ fingas everrrrry time! Once finished, place the plate into the fridge to chill. Remove from the fridge at least an hour before serving so the squares won’t be stuck to the plate from the cold.