
Creamy, sweet and tangy all in one bite

Halva and lemon curd tart
I try out all my new crazy cakes on my friends and family. I can trust them to be honest with me. So I made this new halva and lemon curd tart for dessert for our book-club meeting. I know I can be my harshest critic but when I like something I made I turn into my biggest fan and a noisy one at that. So I’m shouting this one from the rooftops, ‘I love my halva and lemon curd cake and I want the whole world to know about it!' From the first bite I took it was, “Oh yum, how good is this cake, it’s perfection, the texture is perfect, the biscuit base is not too sweet and there is just enough halva and, boy, how is the Halva cream just melts in your mouth. The combination of sweet and tangy is fresh and original and just was so delectable… foodgasm… This is definitely my new favourite cake. I really love this, guys, what do you think. No really, I mean how good is this, it’s just awesome." I don’t think I gave anyone an opportunity to give me feedback because the only time I stopped talking was in between bites which were quicker then a blink of an eye. Yep, this cake was soo good that I ate way too much after dinner and long after every one left. I Just kept straightening that cake, does anyone else straighten their cakes?
I woke up with a huge cake hang over and ridden with guilt so i decided to give away whatever was left before i resumed the demolition and put myself into a coma. I straightened it before giving it to my neighbours of course, because, I couldn’t give them a lopsided cake right?? Then I went into pity mode, why oh why was I born with a sweet tooth why cant I be like my friend, Scott Bozac, who would rather have a piece of steak than a piece of cake??? Why don’t I have any displine and what happened to my will power... and that spiralled to me feeling bad about my body, my personality, from my my bad hair all the way down down to my crooked toes…
The good news is that with age, memory is short and by the end of the day (after purging to anyone who would listen) I felt great again and was looking at my new divine cake recipe which I can’t wait to post but until then you have to make this one it’s to die for...
Please note that the original recipe doesn’t offer the Halva cream and uses pistachio and lemon rind strips as a topping.
Being a creamaholic I chose to make Halva cream to add on top of the curd
Please note the tart I made is a bigger one then the recipe below
Ingredients
Dough
175g plain flour
20g almond meal
65g icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
100g cold unsalted butter
1egg
Finely grated lemon peel from one lemon
Pistachio paste
70g pistachios shelled
12g olive oil
Lemon Halva curd
110ml lemon juice
150g white sugar
2 eggs
Finely grated lemon peel from one lemon
100g soft butter
150g halva
Topping Option 1
Hand full of shelled pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
Hinely cut lemon strips
Topping Option 2
Handfull shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
150mls thickened cream
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon tahini
Method
Pastry
in a food processor, process flour, almond meal, icing sugar, salt, grated lemon and butter. Process until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add the egg until dough comes together into a ball.
Turn dough out on to a work surface and knead gently to bring together. Mould into a disc form. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until large enough to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin.
Roll the dough around the rolling pin and unroll onto the tart dish making sure the dough reaches all edges. Trim extra if necessary.
Pierce dough with a fork all over, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for an hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 170c
Blind bake for 12 minutes. Please see *note below
Uncover pastry, continue to bake until golden, remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Pistachio paste
Place pistachios and oil in a food processor and process until it crumbles and comes together as a paste.
Arrange mixture evenly on top of pastry.
Halva and lemon curd
Using your hands, crumb halva into a bowl and set aside
In a pot, over low heat, place the sugar, lemon juice, eggs, grated lemon rind and stir without stopping until mixture has thickened.
Remove from heat. Stir in butter and crumbed halva, pour into a food processor and process until curd is smooth.
Pour lemon and halva curd on top of pistachio paste and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Topping
Option 1
Scatter A handfull of pistachios roughly chopped with finely sliced lemon rind
Topping option 2
Mix honey and tahini in a mixing bowl, add the cream and whisk until firm, refrigerate for a couple of hours
Decorate tart with cream and scatter pistachios on top
*Blind bake
Line the tart tin with baking paper and fill with ceramic baking beans or dried legumes or rice. and bake according to instructions.
I love hearing from you! Let me know how it went and feel free to spread the word/passion/love, the more the merrier!
With love and gratitude
Nava
This looks absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to try it.