From the kitchen
Homemade sesame halva
Halva is one of the oldest sweets in the world, and its soul is sesame. With a good stone-ground tahini you can make it at home: crumbly, fragrant and far better than the factory version. A sugar thermometer helps, but is not essential.
Preparation
- Line a small tin (± 15 × 10 cm) with baking paper. Stir the tahini until completely smooth and warm it gently to lukewarm.
- Bring the sugar and water to a boil. Cook without stirring to 118 °C (soft-ball stage: a drop in cold water forms a soft ball). This takes about 8–10 minutes.
- Take the syrup off the heat, let it cool for 1 minute, then add the vanilla and salt.
- Pour the syrup into the warm tahini and fold together with a spatula — stop as soon as the mixture starts to stiffen and look marbled. Overmixing makes halva hard instead of crumbly.
- Quickly fold in the nuts, press into the tin, and let it set at room temperature for at least 3 hours (better: overnight).
- Cut into cubes. Keeps for weeks in an airtight container — if it survives that long.
Tip: The marbled, layered texture comes from folding briefly, not thoroughly. When in doubt, stop stirring earlier.
Made with Bayaz Tahin — Every recipe here is made with our stone-ground tahini from Amedi — 100% sesame, since 1948. View the product