My halva with a rhubarb compote is a remake of a classic Greek dish. It's a beautiful winter dessert and one that I encourage you to make and enjoy.
Email This Recipe
Enter your email and we’ll send the recipe directly to you!
Naturally with the weather being the way it is, I'm still craving comfort and warmth. I wanted to play around with a Greek classic today. Halvas.
The version I linked to was made ages ago and utilised some pretty unique ingredients.
Today's version is a little different in that I decided to serve my Greek halva with rhubarb.
Yes. Rhubarb.
My thought process went something like this.
Halva = quite sweet. Rhubarb = tart.
The rhubarb provides a wonderful tartness against the sweetness of the halva.
I baked mine in the oven with a little brown sugar, some orange zest and a dash of cinnamon. (this allowed the rhubarb to have a "tinge" of sweetness).
The halva has orange and cinnamon too and in the end we end up with this glorious medley of winter flavours!
I'm also proud of the fact that I didn't stuff up the rhubarb. This was my first time cooking with it and I loved how it turned out once it was baked. This rhubarb compote is beautiful served over some Greek yoghurt for breakfast.
I also wanted to point out a few things about the halva. The first time I made it I was adamant about using "coarse semolina". This time I used the fine version and it still worked out beautifully. I also used butter this time instead of olive oil and I think I prefer it this way.
I served my halva slightly warm with a little of the rhubarb compote on the side.
The only thing missing was a good dollop of Greek yoghurt.
📖 Recipe
Halva with a Rhubarb Compote
📩 Save this recipe!
Enter your email and we’ll send the recipe directly to you!
Conversions
Ingredients
For the rhubarb compote:
- 500 g rhubarb , cleaned, leaves removed, stalks chopped into even 3 cm chunks
- 125 g brown sugar
- 1 orange, zested
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the halva:
- 125 g butter, unsalted
- 1 cup semolina
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups water
- ¾ cup walnuts, shelled
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 1 orange, zested
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
For the rhubarb compote:
- Preheat your oven to 170 deg C.
- Place the rhubarb, orange zest and cinnamon in a baking dish and stir everything until well combined.
- Cover your baking dish and cook for 45 mins - until the rhubarb is soft and jam like in consistency.
- Allow to cool before serving.
For the halva:
- Melt the butter over a medium high heat in a saucepan. Add the semolina and continue stirring until the semolina turns into a lovely toasted, golden colour. Do not over cook this as it will taste bitter.
- Add the sugar, spices and nuts and give everything a good stir. Add the water very gently and stir continuously.
- The halva is ready when it has thickened and comes away from the sides of the pan.
- Pour into a 16cm large dariole mould and cover with a plate until it has cooled slightly and set (I did this for 10 mins).
- Turn onto a plate and serve it up with some rhubarb compote.
Peter's Tips →
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Souvlaki For the Soul
Leave a Reply