I think I am feeling terribly homesick. How did I get to this conclusion? Well, even a simple recipe like this is enough to make me – almost – cry! This is indeed the simplest recipe in this blog so far. Yet it is full of memories.
When I say tahini here in Finland, people immediately think of hummus. I see that hummus is quite well known in these lands, as a delicious dish coming from North Africa and Middle East. But for me tahini is all about this super sweet dessert, called “Tahin Pekmez” (literally, “Tahini Molasses”) in Turkish. And you know what, it is only the mixture of tahini and molasses!
For this dessert there is no cooking, no baking, there is only mixing, which takes about a few minutes and it is done. You can then eat it with just a spoon, which makes a dessert that is too heavily sweet for me; or you can eat by dipping fresh, maybe a little crunchy bread in it. I prefer the dipping method, bread tones down the sweetness. If you have a sweet tooth but not the sweetest tooth, then I recommend you eat with bread.
Tahin Pekmez was a frequent member of our family dinner table. I always ate with bread, and even like that I could only eat a little. But my mother, ever the one in the family with the sweetest tooth, always ate it by itself, with a spoon. I got a headache and felt dizzy by even just watching her! But to my surprise, when I served this dessert to my friends, an international crowd, a couple of months ago, they all preferred to eat it as it is too. I don’t know, maybe my tolerance for sweets is exceptionally low!
The good thing about this dessert is that in an airtight container in room temperature, it says good forever! Do NOT put in the fridge, then it gets bad, but just leave it on the counter. When you are about to eat it, just give it a stir, and that’s it! Enjoy!
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Ingredients:
Difficulty: ★☆☆ (easy) — And I mean super easy
(serves 6-8 people)
The measurements below are how we like the dessert in my family. There is no exact measurement for this dessert. By adding more molasses and thinning it up, adjust the taste and texture according to your wishes.
1 cup / 2 dl.+ 2 tbsp.+ 2 tsp. tahini (you can buy smooth tahini or textured tahini, I prefer the textured one, but traditionally tahini we have in Turkey in general is quite smooth)
1/2 cup / 1 dl.+ 1 tbsp.+ 1 tsp. grape molasses
You can also spread a little sesame seeds on top
Just mix the ingredients with a spoon and that’s it! You can mix them well or you can make a swirling pattern.
My Dear Kitchen in Helsinki 
I made this using Turkish strawberry jam instead of molasses and was surprised how much of a dessert it was! The smooth tahini that I used gave it light, mousse-like texture so it was almost like eating whipped cream with strawberries but better :)
That’s a great idea!
I must try this! I was looking for porridge recipes that incorporated molasses and I found THIS! Tahini is one of my FAVOURITES!
Yes tahini is great!!!
I make a simple granola with just oats, tahini, pekmez and sultanas then I put 25g of it on my morning porridge for some Devine crunch. You should try it. You will love it…..
I eat it every breakfast.
And wonderful.
Great!
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I came across this looking to do something with the pekmez I just got. Thank you for the idea! It was super good.
Great! Enjoy! 😍
I eat this mixture added to my yoghurt every day for breakfast. It has everything to kick start a healthy and energetic day. I first ate this on a trip to Istanbul two years ago and have eaten it ever since. At 72 it is powering me through the most activity I’ve had in decades!
It’s quite hard to find pekmez so I also make my own date syrup as a substitute.
Yes, date syrup is a very good substitute indeed. :)
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