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Quince Halvas Nistisimos

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Halvas is one of my favourite desserts which I always make during Lent.

I am giving you the basic recipe which was given to me by my sister, who serves this in their restaurant, but I would like to tell you how I made some changes.

Halvas Nistisimos – Basic Recipe

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

1

cup

Extra virgin olive oil

2

cups

Fine semolina flour

1

cup

Blanched almonds, chopped

For Syrup:

3

cups

Sugar

4

cups

Water

3 – 4

wholes

cloves

1

stick

cinnamon

1

peel

lemon

 

Extra

Cinnamon for sprinkling on top

Directions

1.

In a saucepan prepare syrup by adding the water, sugar, lemon peels, a few cloves and a cinnamon stick.  Remove any froth which starts forming on the top with a slotted spoon.

2.

Bring to a boil for a few minutes and then set aside removing the cinnamon stick, the cloves and lemon peel.

3.

In another large saucepan, heat oil and add the almonds until they roast (light brown colour).

4.

Add the semolina and stir constantly to roast as well but not to brown.

5.

Remove from the heat and add syrup but be careful to stir constantly as this may overflow. Once the mixture is thick the halva is ready.

At the beginning of Lent, I wanted to make halvas again but as I never plan ahead what to make when I took out the ingredients I did not have enough sugar for the syrup so I replaced the amount of sugar I needed with thyme honey.  Instead of adding lemon peel and cloves in the syrup, I added 2 star anises and a piece of cinnamon.  When it was ready, I molded it in my 26 cm spring form baking tin, which was too big for the amount of the halvas and it didn’t come out as high as I would like it to be.

Here is the result. It tasted fantastic and I believe that the taste has much to do with the quality of the olive oil and the honey but it is also essential that the semolina is roasted properly.

One thing is for sure.  I find it very boring to keep making the same things over and over again, so each time I like changing the recipe.

I made halvas again last week and whilst I loved the one with the honey I wanted to use some of the leftover syrup I have from the spoon sweets I make.

Remember those spoon sweets I make?  Well, I made quince three times this year and the last time I made it with chestnuts. I still have some left and of course I still have the syrup from the ones we have already eaten.   As I said, initially I was just planning to use some of that syrup so I measured one cup and I reduced the amount of sugar and water.  When I was measuring the syrup I had the idea to use some of the spoon sweet in the halva, so I added the spoon sweet in the syrup as well, just to wash out any excess syrup and immediately I removed it in a colander.  I used all my small molds and in the end the remaining I scooped it with the ice cream scoop.


Stuffed Halvas Nistisimos with Quince

Serves: 14

Ingredients:

1

cup

Extra virgin olive oil

2

cups

Fine semolina flour

1/2

cup

Blanched almonds, chopped

1

cup

Quince spoon sweet

For the Syrup:

1

cup

Sugar

1

cup

Thyme honey

1

cup

Quince spoon sweet Syrup

4 1/2

cups

Water

1

stick

cinnamon

 

Extra

Cinnamon for sprinkling on top

Directions

1.

In a saucepan prepare the syrup by adding the water, sugar, honey and cinnamon stick.

2.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes.  Remove any froth with a slotted spoon and then add the quince and the quince syrup and stir. Remove the quince in a colander. Remove the syrup from the heat and set aside removing the cinnamon stick.

3.

In another large saucepan, heat the oil and add the almonds until they roast (light brown colour) and remove them to a platter and set aside, leaving a tablespoon of almonds in the oil.

4.

Add the semolina and stir constantly to roast as well but not to brown.

5.

Remove from the heat and add syrup but be careful to stir constantly as this may overflow. Once the mixture is thick the halva is ready.

6.

In small molds add a few tablespoons of halva, add 1 – 2 pieces of quince spoon sweet and roasted almonds and fill the remaining with halva.

7.

Set aside to cool before unmolding. Sprinkle cinnamon on top or serve with quince spoon sweet and syrup.

This is my entry for Monthly Mingles 31 – Kids’ Lunches, the brainchild of Meeta, of What’s for Lunch Honey? hosted by Srivali, of Cooking 4 All Seasons.

If you liked this you may also like:

Halvas with fruit

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Srivalli

Sunday 29th of March 2009

that sounds so wonderful..love your different shapes...kids will love them!

Laura

Monday 23rd of March 2009

First time here. You have some great recipes, Wow, this looks amazing.

Cakelaw

Saturday 21st of March 2009

These desserts look amazing Ivy!

Sunshinemom

Friday 20th of March 2009

This sounds similar to our sheera, the only difference being the seasoning - we use cardamom, and use mashed bananas in it sometimes. I like your version:)

Soma

Thursday 19th of March 2009

IT's amazing! we call it halwa too, but use regular semolina. love ur moulds! i have never used lemon peele or fruit with it, But i think its gonna be a love change!

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