Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Halva... Sort Of

I don't have an enormous sweet tooth, but I do love dessert, and I adore halva, a Middle Eastern sweet. We had some fantastic tahini in the cupboard, and some local honey, so I figured what a great use for these ingredients. I've never made it before, so I followed this recipe; I didn't find that it went into the correct texture for halva, I don't know what I did wrong, it's more like fudge. But it tastes great so who cares!!

Tahini Honey Halva

2 cups honey
1 1/2 cups tahini (stir it well if it has separated)
1 cup blanched, roasted & chopped almonds
vanilla or other flavouring to taste

Bring honey to a simmer, stirring to keep from getting hot spots or scorching. Cook until soft ball stage (or 240F/115C). Meanwhile, heat tahini in a separate pot (to 120F/50C), and blanch & roast the almonds (want the almonds hot). Let honey cool a little, then mix in heated almonds, then fold in warmed tahini.

I poured the warm mixture into a very slightly oiled Tupperware container. You can use oiled cake pan, lined with parchment, or oiled ramekins, as long as you can extricate the cooled candy afterward! If you let it cool, then cover to keep air out, leave for 36 hours in the refrigerator to develop the texture of the halva. I wasn't successful with that, but I didn't let it cool enough probably first (it was about 10 pm when I was done cooking it), so I'll try again!

1 comment:

d. moll, l.ac. said...

I love Halvah, but when I've bought it at the store it tastes rancid, so I just put Tahini on a spoon and dip the tip in honey or Agave...I'm impressed to did this recipe thing!!