Halvah

[Pam R]

So, I THINK it has the same denseness as the bought one, but I might have changed it a little in my imagination.

Woops... i realize I missed this from your first post - sorry.

Pam, the halva cake with ganache sounds fabulous to me.  any more details on the production of said?

I'm embarrassed to say it's nothing more than two long slabs of halvah (usually choc/van marble) with a poured ganache between the layers, and then over the whole thing (sometimes white choclate ganache and sometimes a buttercream icing instead of ganache - you know the cake had to match the decorations!) It always had a chocolate clay bow on it. When serving the ganache version, it's important to serve fresh whipped cream alongside to cut back on the sweet/richness of it . It's literally the easiest thing in the world to make, but you have no idea how well it goes over at a Jewish function!

I can't get over how easy it seems it is to make this. As soon as my kitchen is up and running I need to try it .... and maybe sell it in my store! How about using a silicon muffin pan to make individual ones for resale? All I'd have to do is pour some ganache on them... hmmmm

[chefcyn]

Here's another recipe that's different:

Halvah

Makes about 1 1/2 pounds

1/2 cup untoasted sesame oil

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup tahini

3/4 cup honey

1. Warm the oil in a large heavy skilled over low heat. Add the flour and stir until the oil and flour are thoroughly combined. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to turn pale brown. Add the tahini and stir until the mixture has a uniform color and consistency. Turn off the heat.

2. In a separate small saucepan, bring the honey to a boil over high heat. Boil for 1 minute. Immediately add the hot honey to the flour mixture. Stir until the honey is completely incorporated.

3. Spread the mixture into a small ungreased 5- by 9-inch loaf pan and pack the mixture down with the back of a spatula. Let the halvah cool at room temperature for at least 2 hours or until the pan feels cool. The halvah will shrink back slightly from the edges of the pan as it cools, and should therefore unmold easily when the pan is inverted. Wrap the halvah in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

4. To serve, cut the halvah into thin slices.

[gfron1]

I just bought Macabim's Flaky Halva. Its so much better than the brick's of halva (I haven't tried homeade yet). My question is that the box says for baking. What does that mean - how would you use it in baking?

Thanks

[jbehmoaras]

During one of my many visits to Turkey i remember a restaurant serving baked halvah. By baking it, the sugars carmelize and the halvah gets a chewier texture. I also felt like it made they halvah taste less dry than it does uncooked. The place I went to also served it with a bit of ice cream. I'm not sure if thats the traditional way it is served, but thats the way i experienced backed halvah.

[gfron1]

Huh...thanks. I'll have to give it a try. I was thinking the shredded halva might be nices in between layers of a spice or caramel cake.

[Swisskaese]

You can also use it to make White Chocolate and Halvah Cheesecake. I would use bittersweet chocolate instead.

The flaky halvah is mixed in with vanilla ice cream. It is yummy. You don't bake it, just crush it and add it to the ice cream mixture in the ice cream maker.

You can also make Halvah Yeast Cake but you would need to use halvah spread instead of the flaky halvah. Although you could crush up the flaky halvah and it would probably still taste great.

Edited July 7, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Pam R]

I went to a dinner earlier this year that was planned and cooked by a local chef and a guest chef from Israel - the idea was to combine Israeli ingredients with stuff from our region. Anyway - the dessert they served was a stiff chocolate mousse with halvah - and there was some phyllo in there somewhere. I have no idea what they did - but I do know that they used flaky/hairy/thready halvah - and it was an amazing dish. Chocolate and (sesame) halvah go well together.

Your idea of a spice cake with halvah in there sounds really good too. You could fold it into a buttercream...

[Abra]

I've never seen flaky halvah. Where did you find it?

[gfron1]

My store

A friend served me some and I looked at the label and sure enough it was a company I regularly ordered from. I like it so much more than the bricks of halva.

[Pam R]

.. my answer too. I sell it (Elite brand though).

check with any stores that sell middle eastern products.

[gfron1]

When you look for it, its the stuff that looks like shredded chicken.

[alanamoana]

i bet it would be good baked into a baklava type dessert as well. wrap in phyllo with some chocolate or gianduja and make a tasty syrup to pour over it. sounds like good stuff.

[Abra]

So weird that I've never seen it, since I spend a lot of time in a store with such ME exotica as pismaniye. I'm going there on Thursday, so I'll have a look for sure. I'm longing to make halvah ice cream, or even some sort of halvah tiramisu, or halvah panna cotta.

[jbehmoaras]

Halvah is quite a dry and solid ingredient so you might have to heat your mixture to dissolve it and I'm not sure how soluble it would be with out an egg based ice cream or some emulsifier because I think its high in oil content from sesame seeds... Unless you were thinking of having chunks of halva which could be kinda cool...

[Darienne]

Yesterday I started on a new, but longstanding unfulfilled, obsession: to make halvah like the stuff I remember from my Montreal childhood. In our nearby city, you can get Camel halvah...not my style. I have not seen Joyva brand locally.

I'm sure you can find delicious halvah in Toronto, but I have ceased to find any joy in going there and fighting the traffic jams...and they are horrendous...and the crowds.

So I found some recipes. Some have egg whites, some semolina. There is a great variation in the recipes. I made the recipe from Bruce Weinstein's, The Ultimate Candy Book, provided in this thread by chefcyn, July 05 (I don't know how to do those linking things. Sesame oil, white flour, tahini and honey.

Well, I must have done something terribly wrong. The consistency is awful and so is the taste. I'll try an egg white one next, and probably with sugar. Honey is great...if you have a great honey.

Help!!!!! please !!!!!