Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky

The last time I went to Melo Hatene to stock up on tahina, I ran into my friend and fellow kibbutz member, David Leishman. David was there for tahina, too: He occasionally makes tahina ice cream for Melo Hatene’s restaurant in exchange for raw tahina and other yummy things from the shop.

Intrigued by the idea of tahina ice cream, I asked David for his recipe. (David has been making wonderful homemade ice cream since before he came to Kibbutz Gezer, over 30 years ago.) What I got from David was not really a recipe, but vague amounts for a restaurant quantity.

So I was forced to attempt tahina ice cream on my own. Fortunately, it was one of my more successful attempts, if the reviews are anything to go by. And before you wrinkle your nose at the idea of tahina in ice cream, think cold, creamy sesame halva. Here’s my recipe:

2 c. whole milk

1 c. cream

1/2 c. light brown sugar

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1/4 t. natural almond flavoring

1/2 c. good quality raw tahina (not whole tahina)

1/3 c. honey

Heat the milk and sugar in the top of a double boiler until the sugar dissolves. Beat the eggs in a bowl, and pour a bit of the warm milk into them. Add the eggs slowly to the milk mixture, stirring constantly until it begins to thicken. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla and almond extracts, cool and refrigerate.

In the meantime, mix the tahina and honey with 2 T. hot water until very smooth. Cool separately.

Stir the cream into the custard and freeze in an ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream starts to set, drizzle in the tahina/honey mixture and freeze until firm.

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