pomegranate molasses sweet treat
Zejd’s pomegranate molasses and sumac turn blueberries once buried in the freezer into a sweet treat. If you’ve ever felt let down by the lack of tartness or acidity in a frozen blueberry, help is at hand with two tart Lebanese ingredients. We’ve adapted an Ottolenghi recipe to demonstrate how versatile these store cupboard staples from Lebanon are.
The blueberries were a bargain purchase from a local greengrocer, some used for jam and the rest frozen for emergency puddings. Sadly having spent a while in the freezer, the flavour had all but gone. Tartness was restored with Zejd’s thick syrupy pomegranate molasses, and heightened with the citrusy sumac. Two ingredients otherwise used for savoury dishes, multitasking in a sweet treat have earned their space in the kitchen cupboard.The jammy drizzle spooned over the tahini flavoured crumble crunch with a heart of halva is a sweet treat for an afternoon cuppa and wouldn’t look out of place on a brunch table.
ingredients
crumble
225g plain flour
70g caster sugar
50g light brown sugar
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
175g unsalted butter, melted
40g tahini
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
filling
200g halva
300g frozen blueberries
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tablespoon Zejd sumac
1 tsp good quality rose water (or vanilla extract if you don’t like rose water)
blueberry drizzle (optional)
30g frozen blueberries, (they defrost in the pan)
2 tablespoons Zejd pomegranate molasses
1 tsp good quality rose water (or vanilla extract)
1 tablespoon Zejd sumac
method
- Grease and line the base and sides of a 22cm square tin (one you use for brownies) with greaseproof paper or a butter paper.
- Turn the oven on at 170C (160 fan) 350F, gas mark 4. Put the first five ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine, add the melted butter, tahini, vanilla and stir. The mixture will be quite soft.
- Measure 300g of the crumble mixture and smooth it down over the base of the tin with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. The remaining crumble mixture goes into the fridge for later.
- Remove the tin from the oven, and turn up the heat to 180C (170C) 375F, gas mark 5. In a bowl add the blueberries, cornflour, sumac and rose water together and stir. Break the halva over the crumble base, and cover with the berry mixture. Lastly take the crumble mixture out of the fridge and scatter this over the fruit. Return the tin to the oven, and bake for 45-50 minutes, turning the tin round after 20 minutes for an even bake. The topping should be golden, with the berry mixture bubbling though. Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.
- In a small pan, add the remaining blueberries, pomegranate molasses, rose water and sumac. Using the back of a fork, squash the berries until the liquid turns a deep purple, and allow this to bubble for half a minute. Spoon this mixture over the top of the crumble and leave to set. Carefully remove from the tin when cooler, and cut into as many squares as you like.
Delicious eaten warm, served with crème fraîche.