The Original Tahini Mouse Pie. Winner of @food52 “Best Sesame Recipe”. Chocolate cookie crust with halva and a fluffy tahini mousse. I top it with a drizzle of silan (date syrup) and it's absolutely divine. Think of Peanut Butter Pie but more adult.
In a food processor, pulse the chocolate wafers until finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl
Add the melted butter, ground coffee, and salt. Mix to combine until it looks like wet sand (maybe even a little more moist than wet sand).
Press the mixture into a 9″ pie/tart pan with removable bottom. Pack it tightly!
Place the shell in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Bake on a sheet pan for 10 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature and place it in the fridge until you’re ready to fill it.
FOR THE PIE FILLING
Place 2 cups of heavy cream and the cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment.
Whisk the cream on medium at first and then up to high until medium peaks form. Don’t over whip the cream!
Transfer the whipped cream into a different large bowl.
Change to a paddle attachment on the mixer, no need to clean the bowl! Place the sesame paste, powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste and salt in the mixer bowl.
On low, mix until it starts to come together.
While the mixer is running, SLOWLY drizzle in the remaining 1/4 cup of heavy cream.If you do this too quickly, or if the mixer is on too high the mixture will separate! It will be pretty difficult to bring it back together so make sure you do this slowly!
Fold in, by hand, 1/3 of the whipped cream mixture into the sesame mixture. Be a bit aggressive with this first addition to lighten the sesame mixture.
Once almost combined, add an additional 1/3 of whipped cream to the mixture and continue folding, gently this time. Add the remaining 1/3 and fold until JUST COMBINED. Streaks of white are ok!
FOR FINISHING THE PIE
Pull out the shell from the fridge and 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.
When ready to serve, pop the pie out of the pan, sprinkle with sesame seeds and flakey sea salt. Slice, garnish with more halva, drizzle some silan over top and enjoy!
Notes
This pie will keep, refrigerated, for up to 2 days.