Love tahin pekmez spread? This healthy tahini & grape molasses cake recipe is a sweet and nutty vegan treat. Perfect with a cup of tea.
Tahini & Grape Molasses
Tahin pekmez is the Turkish version of peanut butter and jam/jelly. Often served on bread at breakfast, it is sweet and nutty, giving you the energy to start your day. You can buy tahini pekmez as a ready-made spread or separately in most middle eastern stores.
Nutrition
This tahini and grape molasses cake is a healthy alternative to traditional cakes. Pekmez is perfect for baking, offering a deep rich flavour as well as health benefits. Pekmez contains natural sugars, so replaces most of the caster sugar in the recipe. In a Turkish household, pekmez might be offered to someone feeling cold or unwell because its sugars are digested quickly into the blood. Unlike refined sugars, pekmez contains nutrients including calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium.
Tahini is also a healthy ingredient, containing healthy fats, nutrients including phosphorous and manganese, and antioxidants. It is also high in protein, the 150g of tahini in this recipe contains 25g of protein. A great excuse to eat cake!
Ingredient swaps
Normally, I encourage readers to try out different ingredients and work with what’s in the kitchen. However, the tahini & grape molasses cake recipe is a classic combination.
- Tahini – don’t substitute this for peanut butter. PB is delicious but very a different flavour.
- Pekmez – there are a few types of molasses. Try to use grape or date (these are both sweet) but don’t use pomegranate molasses (nar eşkisi) which has a sour taste.
Icing suggestions
There are several options for icing. I simply spread pekmez over the top, allowing it to soak into the sponge – a bit like a lemon drizzle. Another option would be to dollop tahini and pekmez and use a toothpick to make swirls. (Pekmez is a syrup so you don’t need to add sugar). Or you could flavour glace icing or vegan buttercream with pekmez.
Decorate with walnuts, sesame seeds, dried fruit, or edible flowers
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine the dry ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, mix the tahini and pekmez and smooth out any lumps. (If your tahini is dry or the pekmez is lumpy, use a hand blender.) Add in the other liquids and stir.
- Gradually, add the liquid ingredients into the dry. Fold together until just combined – don’t over mix.
- Pour into two greased or lined cake tins (about 7 inches/18cm diameter, shallow tins). (If you use a single cake tin, cook for longer and be careful the top does not burn.) Bake on 180c for around 35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean but not too dry.
- Once cooked through, turn out onto a cooling rack and ice/decorate once at room temperature.
Notes
Did you make this recipe? Tag @vegan_middle_east on Instagram or comment below.