Turkey is a gastronome's paradise. The street food, cafés, tea houses — it will all blow your mind. However, it was the rich and vast tradition of baked goods that really took my heart, one special breakfast bun in particular. Can you guess what's tucked into each layer of crusty pastry?
This is the incredible, decadent and delicious halva bun. Halva is that amazing sweetened sesame seed candy that is so popular throughout the Middle East. The halva bun can be found in most Istanbuli pastry shops and is a popular breakfast or snack food. It's an amazing combination of chewy, crusty pastry dough, with rich, moist halva permeating each layer. It is indeed a rapturous experience, biting into one of these things. I've never seen anything like this in the United States, I may just have to figure it out in my own kitchen. If you've had a halva bun, or know the secrets on how to make the perfect one, let's hear it!
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Quick! Either find a recipe or lead me to a bakery that makes these beautiful breakfast buns.
Susan88
I think this is what you're looking for:
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Armenian-Tahini-Bread
I made this and there was way too much halvah filling -- it was super messy. But it could easily have been my fault. The result was tasty enough that I've been meaning to try it again.
oh my goodness, that sounds so incredible. I wonder if any of the middle eastern groceries in the u.s. could get their hands on some of those.
This is not halva (helva in Turkish) inside. The baked good is called "Tahinli Çörek", which means "Bun with Tahini." It's similar to those cinnamon buns but with tahini and sugar instead and sesame on top.
By the way, here's a recipe you can try:
http://www.yogurtland.com/2005/04/17/tahini-breadtahinli-ekmek/
Damascus bakery on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn sells tahini bread. They don't bake it themselves, but it is surprisingly tasty for a packaged food.
Halavah, schmalavah....If it isn't chocolate...it isn't worth discussing? Now if you can put together chocolate with sesame....I would be impressed!
I think they sell these at Zeytuna on William Street.
@Mona D, I was going to post that! I've made Fethiye's recipe and it's OH so delicious. There's a real richness to 'em.
We make these from time to time, we halve the amount of yeast we use in our cinnamon bun recipe and than just spread halva and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. It is actually really easy.
We actually were planning on making pumpkin flavored buns with swirls of spiced chocolate for the people who spend the night for our Halloween party but decided to keep it simple this year, pumpkin pancakes with chocolate chips.
can i order these online to arrive fresh on my doorstep tomorrow morning?!? how much are plane tickets? mmm