Mamul and home-made Halva

ב''ה

Mamul are basically middle-eastern doughs stuffed with lightly sweetened pistachio filling with a hint of rose water. The powdered sugar on top helps add the extra sweetness this needs.

Ground, shelled pistachios. When you blanch salted pistachios, most of the salt gets dissolved. I was afraid they would be too salty. They were just fine.

I did not shape these 100% properly but you can buy a special tool for crimping them. My brother brought me this one from the Holy Land.

 You wrap them like this and then crimp.

Halva is basically ground a sesame candy. It has its own unique flavor. Gruff, lingering, potent sweetness. These I added chocolate ganache to because it was falling apart.

I poured hot soft ball stage sugar into the running food processor that had the tehina, cardamom and cinnamon. I waited too long in between pours and that caused the sugar not to mix in 100% properly. The result was a delicious crumbly mess. These things are supposed to be one solid block. Sooo, I mixed in the ganache. Sometimes they marbleize it anyways.

For anyone who has had store bought halva, please note that home-made is far superior. It just has a better texture and flavor than the store bought. Using good quality organic tehina also helps get the best flavor and richness.