Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Basboosa #2 - semolina cake

what a very wet wet day.... been raining all day.. school holiday doesn't mean a resting month for mommy.. friends, sisters, cousins coming over.. a lot of cooking, a lot of baking, a lot of washing ... lot of YELLING...but still life is wonderful...been a while since my last post on mu husband fav, the basboosa but this time im trying another recipe (the man never encourage this.. he just like the old recipe).. let see what will the man say

i must say:the coconut inside this cake makes it wonderful on the taste but the texture is too cakey for us.. not too sweet is a good thing .well.... i prefer the one with the dense texture, heavy on ghee (not good for ur health) with a nutty taste..but still worth trying..i wrote down this recipe in my small book, unfortunately forgot to copy the link... spread the love

simple things that u need:(for the cake)

1 cup flour
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup sugar
1 cup semolina
1 cup yoghurt
1 cup melted ghee/clarified butter
3 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tbsp rose water

for the syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup water
half of lemon juice
adding the rose essence is optional
*cook the sugar syrup until all the sugar dissolved


how to make?

easy to make, just put all the ingredients in a big bowl.... mix altogether with our beautiful hand, make sure fingernails are clean.. dont want any contamination ok?spread evenly on baking pan and set it aside for about 15-30 mins...let all the moisture soaked up by semolina .You may press gently some nuts on top of it.Bake at 180 degrees for about 25 mins or until golden brown, depends on the size of your pan..

once it cooked while it still hot, pour the syrup over and leave it cool..



Emeraude not Emerald



i love nuts... its a snack treat , and my fav would be the asian plain roasted cashewnuts (not fried) , pistachio and macadamia.. the most expensive nut in the world... so here is the recipe using pistachio but you may use different kind of nuts i guess.. it seems complicated to make.. not so.BUT  i do need a lot of cleaning.. with the trays, the bowls,the spoon... etc..quite a mess in my kitchen.I made this around 10 at night after dinner.. bit tired from cooking but the temptation to make this is to high i cant delay until tomorrow... with all the steps, the ingredients.. sara and kelly hanging on my leg..crying for my precious milk.. it stressed me out..but its the life for me..this must go onnn....recipe adapted from the sweet spot, her emeraude is more divine , not a mess like mine.. a credit to her, i just copied most of the recipes to share with you.. its a long list and i do not have courage to write all that on my own..

i must say : this is a lovely dessert ... but i don't think raspberry goes well with the delicate and rich flavour of the cream and pistachio..

From the bottom,
1. Pistachio dacquoise
2. White Chocolate bavarian cream
3. pistachio joconde soaked with rose water imbibage i just sprinkled some rose water over
4. white choc bavarian cream
5. raspberry gelee
6. white choc bavarian cream
7. pistachio joconde
8. strawberry jam glaze which i didn't do

Emeraude
(Raspberry and Pistachio entremet with White bavarian cream) 

Pistachio Dacquoise
7g sugar
62g egg white
50g icing sugar
70g finely ground pistachio
35g roughly chopped pistachio
pinch of cream of tartar

White chocolate bavarian cream
66g milk
70ml cream
1/2 vanilla pod, seeds scrapped
76g egg yolk
5g gelatine
180g white couverture chocolate
265 cream.
Pistachio Joconde
125g icing sugar
60g almond meal
65g pistachio meal (finely grounded pistachio)
150g whole eggs
33g flour
25g melted butter
100g egg whites
16g sugar
Rose imbibage (soaking syrup) i just sprinkle some rose water
50g sugar
100ml water
4-5 dried rose buds (or 1 tsp rose water)
Raspberry geleei used shortcut by using a storebought strawberry jelly powder + raspberry paste , same outcome.. ngeeee....but you may follow the given original recipe
1.5 tsp gelatin powder
15ml cold water
1 cups frozen raspberry
20g caster sugar
How to make?
1.Make raspberry gelee layer first.Mix gelatin powder and cold water and set to bloom. In a pot, cook raspberry and caster sugar. Crush with a whisk, or blend in a blender. Heat gelatin in microwave for 30 secs or till completely melted. Pour into raspberry and mix well. It’s optional to strain the raspberry puree.  Lay a cling film on a board, and place square cake ring. Pour into cake ring and set for min 2 hours.
2. Make pistachio dacquoise.its the meringue things, like making macaron          Whisk the egg whites , pinch of cream tartar an sugar altogether in a mixing bowl till stiff peaks and      lovely glossy. Add in the icing sugar and ground pistachio. Gently fold into egg whites, dont worry it'll deflate a bit. Lastly, scatter roughly chopped pistachio into the batter. Pour into a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, lightly spread it with spatula. Bake at 200 C for 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven, and cut a 6″ square. If there are leftovers, cut out for verrines
3. Make pistachio joconde.it may sounds complicated but it just like when ur making a chiffon..In a mixing bowl, whisk icing sugar, almond and pistachio meal and whole eggs till light and almost double in volume. It should be at a ribbon stage. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites till soft peak. add in caster sugar and whisk till medium peak. Set aside. Gently fold in flour into whole eggs batter. Gradually fold in melted butter. Then lastly fold in meringue in 2-3 batches. Pour into a sheet pan lined with  parchment paper, spread it (it should be twice more than the dacquoise batter). Bake at 220 C for 8 minutes. Cut 2 pieces of 6″ square, and leave the remains to make verrines.
4. Make imbibage.As i mentioned before, i just used storebought rose waterIn a small pot, put everything inside and bring to a boil for 1 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Make white chocolate bavarian cream.First make cream anglaise. Mix gelatine with 1 tbsp of cold water, let it set. Bring milk, cream and vanilla beans to a light boil . Pour 1/4 of the milk and cream into egg yolks and stir with a whisk. Gradually pour in the remaining cream and whisk constantly. Pour in the cream back into the pot and let it cook over very low heat, while whisking constantly. The cream will thicken a bit (or coats the back of a wooden spoon)just like making custard sauce. When done, remove from heat. Meanwhile, melt white chocolate in the microwave or over a bain marie. Melt gelatin too. Pour gelatin into creme anglaise, stir. Then add in white chocolate and stir till well incorporated. Pass the entire batter through a sieve to remove and possible cooked eggs, or unmelted gelatin or chocolate. Put the bowl over a ice water bath to cool down the mixture. Whisk cream in a separate bowl to medium peaks. Lightly fold in whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture.
6. Assembly.Line a layer of pistachio dacquoise at the bottom of a 6″ square ring. With a pasty brush, baste with abit of imbibage ontop. Pour a layer of white chocolate bavarian cream. Add pistachio joconde. Soak with imbibage. Pour in a layer of cream. Lay the gelee on top. Pour cream. Add the 2nd layer of pistachio joconde, and soak with imbibage with brush. Pour a thin layer of cream ontop. Leave to chill for a few hours. When the cream has set, pour glaze on top.
7. To make verrines, same thing, layer everything into the cups