Almond Halva and Sesame Ganache Bar

Created by Chef Angela Borah on behalf of the Almond Board of California

Difficulty

Hard

Ingredients

Serves: 70 bars (7.5 x 2 cm each)

Almond Sablé

Blanched almonds 85g
Sugar 170g
Butter 210g
Egg Yolks 6 each
Pastry flour 420g
Baking powder 17g
Fleur de sel 4g

Almond Halva

Blanched almonds 350g
Sugar 350g
Almond praline 50% 684g
Fleur de sel 6g
Sugar 600g
Water 50g
Glucose 85g
Wildflower honey 170g

Sesame Ganache

White sesame seed 33g
Black sesame seed 33g
Heavy cream 283g
Glucose 40g
Dark chocolate 56% 342g
Milk chocolate 38% 396g
Butter 72g

Caramelized Almonds

Water 38g
Sugar 75g
Trimoline 12g
Slivered almonds 400g

Assembly & Finishing

Cantonese Processed White and Black Sesame Seeds (SOSA)

Preparation

Almond Sablé

Pulse the almonds in a robot coupe until ground but not completely pulverized. Combine the almonds with the dry ingredients. Cream the sugar and butter with a paddle attachment until smooth and fluffy. Gradually add the egg yolks, then add the dry ingredients until the dough comes together.
Sheet the dough to number 3 in the sheeter. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.
Cut the sheeted dough into 7.5cm x 2cm rectangles.
Bake the sablé on silpain mats in a 325F oven for 15 minutes.

Almond Halva

Place the almonds in a 350F oven for 30 minutes, until the center is golden brown. Make a dry caramel until it turns amber in color. Combine the almonds into the caramel and pour on a silpat. Let it cool down. Using a robot coupe, grind finely until smooth texture.
Place 684g of almond praline and fleur de sel into a bowl. Caramelize sugar, water and glucose to 168C. Add wildflower honey and bring to a boil. Drizzle in sugar syrup slowly into the almond praline, agitate the mixture until streaky. Be careful to not overmix. Pour the halva into a silicone pan liner (422mm x 352mm), then roll it gently with a silpat on top with a rolling pin to 8mm.

Sesame Ganache

Toast white sesame and black sesame seeds together for 30 minutes until the white sesame is amber in color. When they have cooled down, grind them in a robot coupe to a paste. Combine the paste with heavy cream and glucose and bring to a boil. Gradually pour the heavy cream mixture over the half melted chocolate. Mix at the center with a rubber spatula to create a shiny and elastic core. When the ganache temperature reaches 35C, add the diced butter and process the mixture with an immersion blender.

Caramelized Almonds

Combine water, sugar, trimoline and bring to a boil. Add the slivered almonds and coat in the syrup. On a sheet tray with parchment paper, sprinkle the almonds and bake at 350C for 15 minutes until golden in color.

Assembly & Finishing

On a 18in x 24in plexiglass over a guitar sheet, place a 340mm x 340mm x 10mm frame and transfer the halva to fit into the frame. Place two 340mm x 340mm x 4mm frames directly on top and pour the sesame ganache and let it crystallize for 24 hours at 65F. Cut the halva and ganache to 7.5cm x 2cm. Brush the almond sablé with a thin layer of dark chocolate and stick to the halva. Brush the other side of the sablé with a layer of chocolate as a chablon. Temper dark chocolate and pass through the chocolate enrobing machine. Decorate the bars with caramelized almonds and Cantonese processed white and black sesame seeds.

Nutritional Info

Per Serving

NAME	AMOUNT
Calories (kcal)	335.5
Total Fat (g)	18.3
Saturated Fat (g)	6.1
Trans Fat (g)	0
Cholesterol (mg)	30
Sodium (mg)	107.6
Total Carbohydrate (g)	39.3
Dietary Fiber (g)	2.8
Total Sugars (g)	30.5 (Includes 27.1 Added Sugars)
Protein (g)	5.2
Vitamin E (mg)	3.1
Magnesium (mg)	34.3
Calcium (mg)	78.6
Iron (mg)	1.2
Potassium (mg)	150.6

Did you know?

In addition to almonds being a delicious ingredient in our recipes they’re also heart healthy, gut healthy, and full of vitamins and nutrients - explore Health & Nutrition to learn more. Not only that, almond farmers are dedicated to sustainability - find out how they’re Growing Good.