This recipe for Chocolate Orange Basbousah is in collaboration with Kenwood Chef Sense XL and Hershey’s. 

Ramadan Kareem everyone! We are blessed enough to be witnessing Ramadan for yet another year. Ramadan is a month for fasting, humility, self-reflection, worship, and also family / friends like family.

Truth be told, I never quite understood what people meant whenever they asked if “you’re prepared for Ramadan”. I’m just not one to prepare a hundred thousand dozens of samosas, spring rolls and kababs to freeze and have at my disposal for when I want to eat the whole world but can’t move a single limb, so I never really understood what “preparation” meant. This year, however, I completely understand that it means to be mentally prepared.

“Mentally prepared”, I was not, but I had to hit the ground running anyway. How I get through Ramadan is by not spending all my time in the kitchen, and making easier, tried-and-tested recipes. It also helps to have handy gadgets in the kitchen which will minimize arduous labor and time spent in the kitchen. A stand mixer, for instance, goes a long, LONG way. The stand mixer I’m currently using (and loving) is the Kenwood Chef Sense XL.

Of course, I can’t help but experiment here and there. Last time I went to Jeddah, I saw a mushrooming of speciality basbousah stores. Flavored basbousah of all sorts, with Biscoff, Nutella, all sorts of chocolate, were flying off the shelves. What disappointed me though, was that the basbousah itself didn’t taste nearly half as good as the kind my mom makes! I knew right away I need to recreate my mom’s perfect basbousah, but with a fruity twist because my mom is a fruit > chocolate gal any day.

This recipe for chocolate orange basbousah was inspired by Assia Othman, who used orange juice in her basbousah instead of the standard yogurt or heavy cream. I decided to use Hershey’s chocolate because hey, a little bit of mom and a little bit of me 🙂 Plus, Chef Osama and his Ramadan recipes using Hershey’s chocolate were all up in my face in every supermarket I visited! It was a sign, I just had to do it!

Here’s how it went down: