This recipe comes from Katherine Lewin's debut cookbook "Big Night". Big Night is one of our absolute favorite shops in New York and we're so excited to spend the summer cooking from this book!
"If you have ice cream in your freezer, you already have a dinner party dessert. But when you want to go big(ger), set up a sundae bar. Make the tahini hot fudge in advance--then, when you're ready to serve, pull it out of the fridge and warm it up in a saucepan over low heat. Grab the ice cream out of the freezer. While the fudge warms and the ice cream softens, make whipped cream. Gather some cherries and/or nuts and/or halva, and, suddenly, you have a dessert that everyone will be thinking about tomorrow."
INGREDIENTS
For the tahini fudge
½ c (1 stick) unsalted butter
1½ c agave nectar
1 c heavy cream
1tbsp kosher salt
½ c Seed + Mill Organic Tahini
4oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
For the sundaes
Vanilla, chocolate, and/or coffee ice cream, softened
1 (8oz) package Seed + Mill Halva (optional)
Whipped cream
Shelled, roasted, salted pistachios, chopped (optional)
Maraschino, amaro-soaked, or pitted fresh cherries (optional)
STEPS
Make the fudge
1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the agave, cream, and salt. Whisking occasionally, bring to a rolling boil, 3 to 5 minutes. Continue to boil, whisking often and adjusting the head as needed to keep the pot from boiling over, until the mixture has darkened slightly and thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Reduce the heat to love, then whisk in the tahini and chopped chocolate until smooth and incorporated.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and pour over ice cream immediately, or cover to keep warm (to reheat, simply place over low heat until you've reached peak pourability). The fudge can be made up to 3 weeks in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave in 30-second intervals, or in a pot over low heat.
Make the sundaes
1. Scoop a bit of the fudge into bowls or cups. Add a couple of scoops of ice cream to each (only you know how much is "enough"). Drizzle with more fudge, crumble the halva over the top, dollop with whipped cream, sprinkle with pistachios, and, of course, top with a cherry.
Excerpted with permission from Around Our Table by Sara Forte published by Hardie Grant Publishing, April 2024, RRP $40.00 Hardcover.