Tahini Halva

Middle Eastern · 25 min · Easy · 12 pieces

Tahini Halva

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Sesame paste and hot sugar syrup worked together until it sets into a dense, flaky slab that melts on the tongue. Three ingredients, one critical temperature.

~320 cal per serving. Calories are approximate, per serving — a guide only.

Plan it:

Method

  1. 1

    Warm the tahini

    Warm the tahini gently in a bowl set over a pot of hot water, with the vanilla and salt, until it is loose and pourable. Cold tahini seizes when the syrup hits it.

  2. 2

    Boil the syrup

    ⏱ 10 min

    Heat the sugar with the water in a pot to 250°F (120°C) on a thermometer, the soft-ball stage. This temperature is the entire difference between halva that sets and halva that stays a puddle.

  3. 3

    Combine fast

    Pour the hot syrup into the warm tahini in a thin stream, stirring hard. It will thicken quickly and start to look like fudge. Stop stirring the moment it comes together. Overworking makes it grainy rather than flaky.

  4. 4

    Set

    Scrape into a lined tin, press the pistachios over the top, and leave at room temperature for at least 4 hours. Cut into squares.

Notes

A thermometer is genuinely required here; guessing gives you either sauce or toffee. Do not refrigerate while setting: it sweats. The flaky texture develops over a day or two.

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