Seen in Abu Dhabi 33: Basboosa

When our Jordanian friends made us this dessert called "basboosa," it was the first time I had ever tried it and it puzzled me! It had a delicious flavor: slightly sweetened with a hint of citrus, but a texture I didn't recognize similar to grits. When I looked it up (http://www.food.com/recipe/basboosa-suji-cake-arabic-semolina-cake-309414) I found it is made with semolina, another thing I'm not familiar with. Regardless, it's delicious! I'm thankful for these generous people who like to introduce us to new things from their culture. I love trying new foods!

Non-birthday cake

I've been wanting to try to make this layered cake since I saw the recipe on laurainthekitchen.com, (not an advertisement) but this isn't the kind of thing I would make to have around the house. The way I see it, the more calories something has, the more people it's meant to be shared with; so I had to find a volunteer and an excuse to make it for them.

A friend had a birthday coming... And this was the perfect excuse, so I asked if I could bake her a birthday cake.

It was my first time to make a ganache...

And a cream cheese, peanut butter filling.

Like many layered-cake-learners, I had a problem with the top layer cracking...

So, I obviously still need practice. (My next victim/volunteer wants this for her birthday next January, so maybe I can figure out the cracking issue before then.)

The crazy part was, I misunderstood her birthday and it ended up being just an excuse to make it and be with friends after all. So there you go: Non-Birthday Cake.

Recipe here.