Namoura or Basbousa Honey Lemon Squares

So I bought some cream of wheat the other day. But when I opened the box I realized it was the instant microwave kind. That's not what I wanted but I tried it. Yuck! It tastes like sawdust, how does anyone eat this stuff? What to do?

Then I had a memory of when I was in elementary school and our class made a cookbook (with Gestetner copied pages) filled with recipes from everyone's cultural background. And I recalled that a middle eastern student contributed a dessert made with cream of wheat.

I searched Pinterest and found namoura and basbousa, syrupy cakes made of semolina or cream of wheat. There are similar desserts found in Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and Greece.

I took bits and pieces of different recipes and came up with this. And I was able to turn my yucky instant cream of wheat into a lovely dessert.

1  1/2 cups cream of wheat (regular or instant)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 tbsp baking powder

1  1/2 cups milk

1  1/2 cups water 
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsps lemon juice
zest of 1/2 - 1 lemon
3 tbsps crushed slivered almonds

Mix cream of wheat, sugar, coconut and baking powder together. Stir in the milk.

Spray a 9 X 9 " baking pan and pour the batter in.
Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

While the squares are baking, start making the syrup.
Stir water, sugar and honey together in a pot and bring to a boil. Keep stirring and boil until a candy thermometer reads 110C/230F

Remove from heat and add the butter, lemon juice and zest.
As soon as you take the squares out of the oven, pour some of the syrup on. Sprinkle the almonds on and gently pour the remainder of the syrup over the top.

Cool and cut into squares.

They are good right away but the next day, after the syrup has been sitting in them for awhile, they are excellent!