Halva fudge sponge with sesame caramel syrup

Makes 9 squares Cakes, Bread and Pastries

Advertisement

Method

For the sponge, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease a deep 20cm square loose-bottomed cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Melt the butter in a small pan and set aside.

Put the sesame seeds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 7–10 minutes until rich golden, keeping an eye on them to ensure they don’t get too dark. Tip on to a plate to cool. When cool, weigh out 25g and reserve the rest to use for the sesame caramel.

Mix the ground almonds with the flour in a small bowl. Crumble the halva into a large bowl and mix in the 25g toasted sesame seeds. Mash in the melted butter, a little at a time, until smooth, then mix in the almond flour mixture.

Put a baking tray in the oven to sit the cake tin on. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a large bowl and the yolks in a small bowl. Pour half the agave syrup over the egg yolks and set aside. Whisk the whites with the cream of tartar until they form soft peaks. Gradually add the remaining agave syrup, a little at a time, to keep the volume in the whites. Without washing the beaters, whisk the yolks and agave together until creamy and increased a little in volume.

Fold the yolk mixture into the halva mixture until evenly smooth. Using a large metal spoon, gradually and gently fold in the whisked whites until evenly mixed through.

Spoon into the prepared cake tin and scatter a further 20g sesame seeds evenly over the top. Put the remaining seeds in a bowl and set aside for the caramel. Bake the cake in the oven for 35 minutes until nicely golden and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack still on its paper.

Put the halva for the sesame caramel in a bowl and crush with a fork.

Put the sugar and 75ml hot water in a small pan set over a low heat. When the sugar dissolves and the syrup becomes clear remove from the heat. Add 1tbsp of the syrup to the bowl with the crushed halva, quickly followed by 3tbsp double cream and stir until smooth. Stir in the remaining cream and 2tbsp of the reserved toasted sesame seeds.

Put the pan with the syrup back over a higher heat and simmer until it becomes a rich golden caramel, taking care not to let it burn. Take off the heat and quickly stir in the butter. Quickly add the halva cream to the caramel in the pan and stir until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.

If making the caramel cream, put the cream in a bowl with 1tbsp of the finished sesame caramel and whisk until just holding its shape.

Cut the cake into 9 squares and spoon over the sesame caramel and a scoop of caramel cream, if using. Scatter over any leftover sesame seeds if you like before serving.