I’ve been loads of times to the International shop, as I call it, or ethnic shop if you prefer that description and I’ve noticed a set of tahini with grape molasses, the two ingredients needed to make Tahin Pekmez. It’s very likely that you, like me, haven’t heard of Tahin Pekmez before. I bought the set and I’ve used the grape molasses for all sorts of recipes like these Grape biscuits. The molasses is really nice, I’ve used it to flavour yoghurt (including vegan yoghurt). But I was yet to make Tahin Pekmez, the main reason I bought that set, mainly because I forgot about it until now.

Tahin Pekmez means Tahini Molasses, in Turkish. The name is self explanatory because that’s the whole recipe, a mixture of tahini and molasses.

I’ve did a bit of research to find out the ratio of tahini and molasses needed for Tahin Pekmez. My Turkish is rather basic, as in I know how to say “yes” and to count to five. Thus, the research involved a bit of head scratching as google translate made some pretty hilarious suggestions, like “you can adopt children” at the end of the recipe instead of “children will enjoy (adopt as in take up) this dessert”. This spread, Tahin Pekmez, is usually eaten for breakfast, on slices of bread. Alternatively, you can spread it on some Rich tea biscuits or Digestives.

Funnily enough, it’s very difficult to find the exact recipe. That is because different people prefer a more sweeter version while others like their desserts less sweet. The ratio that I found the most appealing for me was 1:1 tahini to grape molasses. There are other variations, like I said, in which the tahini is twice as much as the molasses and I also found another recipe with 1:2 tahini to molasses, but that must be way too sweet. Anyway, you can make it with the quantities I’m suggesting, then add a bit more molasses if you think is needed.

To make the spread, pour the tahini in a bowl, pour the molasses on top. Stir with a spoon until both ingredients are incorporated. That’s it!

If you are wondering what taste is has, is as sweet as jam, but it has an exotic flavour due to the tahini. As for the texture, it resembles more a chocolate spread, but is a bit “grainy” as the tahini and not smooth as those supermarket spreads. As you can see, it’s quite difficult to try to talk about the taste. I loved it, my husband loved it too, so give it a go, you’d might like it as much as we do.

To store it, pour the spread in an airtight container and keep it in the cupboard. It doesn’t need to go on the fridge, as the cold temperature might ruin the tahini. So, keep it in the cupboard and give it a good stir before using. Pretty simple.

Have you ever head or had Tahin Pekmez? Is this something you’d like to try?