Sunflower Halva
Halva looks complicated until you see its structure: seed paste bound by caramel syrup, with flour holding it together. Each part is prepared separately and combined hot — that is the entire method. The hard part is grinding the seeds properly: the paste has to turn oily, not stay sandy.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Rest
- 3 h
- Total
- 3 h 50 min
- Servings
- 12
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 380 kcal
Ingredients
Makes: about 700 g, 12 portions
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Toast the seeds
Toast them in a dry pan for 7–8 minutes, stirring, to a golden colour and a nutty smell. Raw seeds leave a grassy taste nothing can hide.
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Step 2: Grind to a paste
Blitz the warm seeds for 3–5 minutes with pauses, until they become a thick, oily paste. It goes through a sandy stage first — keep going, the oil comes.
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Step 3: Toast the flour separately
Warm the flour in a dry pan for 5 minutes until cream-coloured and biscuity. Raw flour is immediately noticeable in halva.
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Step 4: Cook the syrup to 115 °C
Bring the sugar and water to the boil and cook to 115 °C without stirring. A drop of syrup at that stage forms a soft ball in cold water.
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Step 5: Combine everything hot
Mix the seed paste with the flour, salt and vanilla, pour in the oil and hot syrup and work it quickly until even. It stiffens as you watch — do not pause.
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Step 6: Press into a tin
Transfer to a lined tin and press it down hard. Air pockets are why halva later falls apart in chunks.
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Step 7: Chill under weight
Cover with parchment, set a weight on top and refrigerate 3 hours. Cut with a sharp knife dipped in hot water.
Tips & variations
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Tip
The blender has to be powerful: a weak one heats the seeds without releasing their oil. If it stalls, add 2–3 spoons of oil during grinding to get the paste right.
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Tip
The thermometer matters: at 110 °C the halva stays soft and sticky, at 120 °C it sets hard as a sweet. 115 is the middle that crumbles properly.
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Variation
Peanut halva: swap the seeds for the same weight of roasted peanuts. Sesame (tahini) halva: use sesame, but drop the sugar to 150 g, as tahini is less bitter.
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Storage
Two weeks in a closed box in the fridge. Halva absorbs smells, so keep it away from cheese and onions. At room temperature it softens and starts weeping oil.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 12 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 380 kcal | 4,560 kcal |
| Protein | 9 g | 108 g |
| Fat | 27 g | 324 g |
| Carbohydrates | 25 g | 300 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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