Member recipe

Greek Halva

Member recipe by

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
(2 ratings)

Member recipe by

Cooking time

Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 15 minutes Total:20

Skill level

Easy

Servings

1 cake

The traditional semolina based Greek halva recipe is often referred as “1:2:3:4″, as it calls for one unit oil, two semolina, three sugar and four water. So simple! If you haven’t tried semolina Greek halva before, you will be surprised by the delicious taste of those 4 humble ingredients, when combined.. When preparing a Greek halva recipe, the semolina is firstly toasted in oil, bringing an irresistible smell and then soaked in hot syrup, with the aromas and blends of cinnamon and clove. Simply delicious! So if you are looking for a delicious no-dairy, no-butter and egg-free dessert, that’s the one!

This recipe has been submitted by the Good Food community. Sign in or create a My Good Food account to upload your own recipe creations. Please note that all recipes will be moderated but they are not tested in the Good Food kitchen.
Save to My Good Food
Please sign in or register to save recipes.
Print

Ingredients

  • 8 cups of sugar
  • 8 cinnamon sticks
  • 8 cloves
  • Cup of honey
  • 1 cup of olive oil
  • 2 cups of semolina
  • A cup of walnuts

Method

  1. In a pot, add the 4 cups of water, 8 cups sugar, 8 cinnamon stick, 8 cloves, and bring to boil for 5 minutes, turn off the heat and add the honey.

  2. In a deep pot, on medium to high heat add the extra virgin olive oil and 2 cups of semolina. Constantly stir with a wooden spatula until the color changes from a golden blonde to a golden brown.

  3. Once the color changes add the 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon. Stir.

  4. Very carefully, slowly add small amounts of the simple syrup to the semolina (the hot syrup will steam and splatter so be careful).

  5. On a medium-low heat, continually stir until the mixture thickens. Add the almonds and stir.

  6. Transfer to a cake pan and let it cool. Turn over onto a cake platter and dust with cinnamon.

BBC GoodFood Magazine

Comments, questions and tips

Sign in or create your My Good Food account to join the discussion.
Be the first to comment...We'd love to hear how you got on with this recipe. Did you like it? Would you recommend others give it a try?
daisymay73
10th Jun, 2017
3.8
I read the recipe and went my own way. There are a couple of mistakes. I didn't make a sugar syrup with the spices in , I added cinnamon after the syrup came off the heat. I used walnuts as it suggested in the ingredients. Almonds were mentioned in the method. Lovely bowl of heaven anyway. I couldn't wait for it to set, so ate it warm with a spoon.
efrosini
18th Feb, 2017
It seems to be there is a typo regarding the amount of sugar. 8 cups seems way too much and doesn't follow the 1234 rule.. Especially with honey added in I would think it is 1 cup honey + 2 sugar.
Be the first to suggest a tip for this recipe...Got your own twist on this recipe? Or do you have suggestions for possible swaps and additions? We’d love to hear your ideas.