Halva is a very delicious sesame and sugar ‘candy’ that is formed into a flakey textured bar. It’s found all over the Middle East. Great slabs of halva line food markets in the souks, often mixed with other ingredients like nuts and dried fruits. The flavour pairs perfectly with chocolate – think along the lines of peanut butter – and specifically dark chocolate. Halva is sweet so works beautifully with the slight bitterness of the chocolate. In this recipe, I use halva to add texture and flavour to my gooey brownies and then drizzle tahini over the top for extra richness.
Method
- Pre heat the oven to 160 fan. Butter and line a 10×10 inch baking tin. Put the butter, chocolate and golden syrup into a pan and melt, stirring occasionally, over a low heat.
- Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and tip in the sugar. Whisk together until pale and fluffy. Add the chocolate and fold together. Sift in the flour and coca powder. Add a pinch of sea salt and fold together.
- Crumble the halva into the baking dish. You want large pieces to have some texture. Pour over the batter and drizzle over half the tahini. Using a skewer, swirl the tahini into the chocolate. Bake for 30-35 minutes until just pulling away at the sides. A skewer should come with chocolate still on, so they are really gooey. Leave to cool completely. Remove from the tin and place onto a board. Drizzle over the remaining tahini and scatter over a little coco powder. Cut into squares and serve immediately.
Ingredients
Serves 12-14
250g butter + extra for greasing
200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
3 tbsp golden syrup
4 eggs
300g golden caster sugar
200g self-raising flour
2 tbsp coco powder + a pinch for garnish
150g halva
100g tahini
Sea salt
