Tahini mousse pie with silan

● 1 tsp finely ground Turkish coffee, or regular ground espresso/coffee

● ½ tsp salt

For the pie filling and finishing:
● 450ml double cream
● ½ tsp cream of tartar
● 175g tahini
● 185g icing sugar
● 6g vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
● Pinch of salt
● 30ml double cream
● 300g pack of halva
● Black sesame seeds
● Maldon Salt
● Silan, sweet date syrup

Method

For the crust:

● Heat oven to 175°C. In a food processor, pulse the chocolate biscuits until finely ground with no large pieces.

● Combine with the melted butter, coffee, and salt. Press the mixture firmly into a loose -ottomed 23cm tart tin. Freeze for 10 minutes then bake on a baking sheet for 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate until you're ready to fill it.

For the pie filling:

● Place the 450ml double cream and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk the cream on medium at first and then up to high until medium peaks form. Don't over whip.

● Transfer the whipped cream into a different bowl. Change to a paddle attachment on the mixer, no need to clean the bowl! Place the tahini paste, icing sugar, vanilla bean paste and salt in the mixer bowl. On low, mix until it starts to come together. With the mixer running, SLOWLY drizzle in the 30ml of double cream. If you do this too quickly, or if the mixer is on too high the mixture will separate. It will be difficult to bring it back together so make sure you do this slowly.

● Fold in, by hand, a third of the whipped cream into the tahini mixture. Beat firmly to lighten the tahini mixture. Once almost combined, add an additional third of whipped cream to the mixture and gently fold. Gently fold in the remaining 1/3 until just combined. Streaks of white are ok!

To serve
● Carefully remove the tart shell from the tin. Break up half of the halva with a fork and scatter evenly along the bottom. Top with the mousse mixture and spread it over the halva. Set the pie in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and Maldon Salt. Slice, garnish with more halva, drizzle some silan over top.

● This pie will keep, refrigerated, for up to 2 days.