Halva mousse

Grinding oily seeds, such as sesame, to a paste, makes Tahini. Then, mixing tahini with hot sugar syrup, cooked to hard-crack stage, makes halva. A sweet confection served across the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Halva and cream turned into the most delicious textured mousse. Served with fresh fruit compote and chickpea brittle that will surprise your guests, especially when you tell them the desert is made with hummus ingredients.
Adapted from Zahav by Michael Solomonov

Ingredients:

Mousse

· 3 ½ cups roughly chopped Halva

· ½ cup milk

· Big pinch kosher salt

· ⅔ cup heavy cream, well chilled

· Blueberry Compote (recipe follows)

· Chickpeas brittle (recipe follows)

Compote

· 2 cups blueberries

· 1 cup sugar

· ½ teaspoon rose water

· Peel of 1 orange

· Juice of ½ lemon

Chickpea Brittle

· 2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, rinsed

· 1 tablespoon canola oil

· 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

· 3 tablespoons butter

· 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Preparation:

Mousse:

Combined the halva, milk, and salt in a food processor and purée until smooth.
Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
In a large bowl, stir about one third of the whipped cream into a halva mixture until completely incorporated. Gently fold half the remaining cream into the halva mixture until just a few streaks remain. Continue folding in the rest of the cream just until incorporated.

Compot:

Combine the berries with the sugar, rose water, and orange peel in the lidded container. Cover and let macerate overnight in the refrigerator.
Transfer the berry mixture to a medium saucepan and simmer over a medium heat until the mixture has thickened to a jam-like consistency, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice .

Chickpea Britle

Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Toss the chickpeas with the oil, transfer to another baking sheet, and roast until crisp, 25 to 30 min.
Combined the brown sugar, butter, and cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the mixture darkens in color slightly and large, lava-like bubbles cover the surface (240ºF)
Add the chickpeas and stir to combine. Working quickly and using a flexible heatproof spatula, spread the mixture out in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet.
Let cool to room temperature. Break into 2 inch pieces to serve with the mousse and compot.