Halva ice cream with chocolate sauce and salted peanuts
The flavour of halva works brilliantly in an ice cream. Make it once and you’ll go back to it over and over again, even without the chocolate sauce and peanuts. With the two condiments it tastes a bit like a luxurious sneakers ice cream: sweet, nutty and comforting. The chocolate can mask the halva flavour a little so better not drench it with sauce, just drizzle lightly.
With an ice cream machine, you would need to churn the ice cream at least a few hours ahead of time, preferably a day in advance. If you don’t have an ice cream machine, make this the old fashioned way, by making the custard and freezing it without churning, beating occasionally for 4-5 hours. Add the halva half way through. Using this method works well for serving immediately but the next day the ice cream tends to go hard.
4-6
Serving size
Ingredients
250ml double cream
350ml whole milk
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped or 1 tsp of vanilla paste
2 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
30g tahini paste
100g halva, ½ cm dice
60g roasted and salted peanuts, roughly chopped, shop bought are best
Chocolate sauce
120ml double cream
80g dark chocolate (70%) finely chopped
½ tsp brandy
Method
- Heat the cream, milk and vanilla pod and seeds in a medium saucepan until just coming to the boil. Remove from the heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until combined. Use a ladle to spoon a little of the hot cream mix into the egg mix, whisking the whole time. Continue with more cream mix until it is all incorporated. Return to the saucepan and place on medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon continuously for 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens to a light custard consistency. Remove from the heat and whisk in the tahini. Leave to cool for 20 minute; then remove the vanilla pod.
- Place the custard in an ice cream machine and churn for about 35 minutes, until semi frozen but creamy. Remove from the machine and stir through the halva pieces. Place in a pre-frozen container and freeze. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving to let it soften.
- Make the chocolate sauce just before serving. Place the cream in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Immediately pour this over the chocolate and stir until soft and uniform. Stir in the brandy. Divide the ice cream into bowls and pour over some warm sauce. Sprinkle with the peanuts and serve immediately.