Halvah
Updated August 23, 2022
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 20 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
½ vanilla bean, scraped
Zest of 1 lemon
1 ½ cups tahini
Pinch kosher salt
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
20 grams carbs; 155 calories; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 8 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 22 milligrams sodium; 3 grams protein; 17 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Line an 8- x 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Step 2
Combine sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon zest with ½ cup water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Allow mixture to simmer into a syrup, without stirring, until temperature registers 245 degrees on candy thermometer.
- Step 3
While syrup is cooking, place tahini and salt in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle. Beat on medium speed. Carefully stream syrup into tahini with mixer running. Mix until syrup is incorporated and mixture begins to pull away from sides of bowl, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Be careful not to overmix. The halvah texture should be fudgelike, not sandy.
- Step 4
Working quickly with a heatproof spatula, transfer mixture to the prepared pan. Place another piece of parchment on top and use your hands on top of the parchment to smooth out halvah. Cool completely to room temperature and cut into squares. Store at room temperature, well wrapped in plastic, for a week.
Private Notes
Comments
This is delicious, but three notes of caution: turn mixer down to LOW before mixing in the hot syrup, wear oven mitts because hot syrup will splash out (ouch) and really do mix for as short a time as possible. Mine turned sandy almost immediately, perhaps because mixer was too high, or I was distracted by my burning finger. Still good for any recipe with crumbled halvah, but not really sliceable.
When I was younger I craved halvah but since I developed diabetes its not for me. I will stick with using tahini to make hummus. I make my own tahini, it is really easy to do and is so much cheaper than store bought. It is just sesame seeds and a little oil, ground in a food processor or similiiar machine. I use a Nutri Ninja.
Easy and delicious.
After reading the reviews here, I made it by hand, beating with a wooden spoon so it was a little softer but still great. I brought it to Shabbat lunch and people devoured it!
Don't omit the lemon zest, it's what makes this halvah so much better than store bought.
I also used fair trade sugar, which is darker, but its only impact on this recipe was on my conscience, so use the sugar you have.
THIS IS AMAZING. So simple and delicious and I think this is my new thing. I had everything ready before cooking, watching thermometer carefully. Poured slow steady stream. Mine never pulled away from the bowl, but I stopped after a while so it wouldn’t get sandy and it was definitely well mixed.
I do not have a lot of experience in making candy and I was a little intimidated...but this recipe turned out wonderful. My only advice is to work very quickly when the cooking is complete. I topped the halvah with toasted sesame seeds.
@Mr Earls Vegans would be grateful for this recipe since there is no honey.