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halva ice cream
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Halva Ice Cream

Our halva ice cream is infused with sesame & packed full of homemade vanilla halva. Incredibly creamy & intensely nutty, this one's a real winner!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Churn Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Servings: 6 People
Author: Ben Racey

Equipment

  • Ice Cream Maker
  • Large Saucepan
  • Mixing Bowl
  • Sieve
  • Ice Cream Scoop
  • Digital Food Probe
  • Digital Scales
  • Stick Blender
  • Baking Tray

Ingredients

Sesame Ice Cream

  • 40 g Sesame Seeds
  • 420 g Whole Milk
  • 250 g Double Cream
  • 130 g Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Paste
  • ¼ tsp Fine Sea Salt
  • 1 tbsp Tahini
  • 40 g Glucose Syrup
  • 25 g Whole Milk Powder
  • 85 g Egg Yolk

Vanilla Halva

  • 85 g Tahini
  • ½ tsp Vanilla Paste
  • ¼ tsp Fine Sea Salt
  • 100 g Caster Sugar
  • 30 g Water

Instructions

Sesame Infused Cream

  • Preheat an oven to 180°c/160°c fan (355°f/320°f).
  • Spread your sesame seed out on a baking tray & roast for 10-15 minutes or until a deep golden brown.
  • In a large saucepan, place the milk, cream, half the sugar, vanilla & salt.
  • Place over a low heat & cook until steaming.
  • Stir in the sesame seeds & leave to steep for 1 hour at room temperature.

Ice Cream Base

  • Pass the sesame cream into another saucepan, through a sieve. Push the seeds down with a spoon to release as much liquid as possible.
  • Add the tahini, glucose & milk powder into the cream, whisk to combine then place over a low heat.
  • In the meantime, combine the egg yolks & remaining sugar in a large mixing bowl.
  • When the milk is steaming (don't let it boil!), pour a third into the yolks, whisking as you do so.
    This is called tempering the yolks.
  • Pour the now tempered yolks back into the saucepan then cook over a low heat until the custard reaches 82°c, making sure to stir constantly with a rubber spatula.
  • Remove from the heat then give the custard a quick blitz with a stick blender.
  • Pass into a bowl, through a sieve & leave to cool, stirring occasionally.
  • Once cool, place a piece of baking paper onto the custard's surface & refrigerate overnight.

Halva

  • Line a small tin or dish with baking parchment.
  • Place the tahini, vanilla & salt into a mixing bowl & stir together until smooth.
  • Next, place the sugar & water into a small saucepan & place over a medium heat.
  • Cook until the sugar has dissolved then increase the heat to medium-high & boil until the syrup reaches a temperature of 121°c/250°f.
  • Remove the syrup from the heat & carefully pour into the tahini.
  • Fold the syrup & tahini together until just combined then transfer to your lined tin.
  • Leave to cool completely then cover & store in the fridge overnight.

Churning

  • The next day, pour the chilled custard into an ice cream machine & churn until it is the consistency of soft serve. If you take the temperature with a digital food probe, it will register roughly -5°c/23°f.
  • Whilst the ice cream is churning, take the halva out of the fridge & cut into small pieces. I like to cut some pieces small & some large.
  • When the ice cream has finished churning, fold in the halva then transfer to a 1 litre tub.
  • Leave to set in the freezer for a minimum of 4 hours then serve.

Notes

To roast the sesame seeds in an Aga, place the tray of seeds onto the second from bottom set of runners in the baking oven. 
Homemade ice cream will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
I would recommend using Nestle’s whole milk powder.