Name: Semolina halva with petimezi
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 3 cups grape juice; 3 cups water; ½ cup sugar; 2 cinnamon sticks; 2 cups thick or coarse semolina; ½ cup vegetable oil; ½ cup olive oil; 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts; ½ cup petimezi or grape syrup / molasses; 1-2 tbsp sesame seeds; cooking spray for the bundt pan

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Semolina halva made with grape molasses (petimezi in Greek), filled with walnuts and topped with sesame seeds. The syrup is made with grape juice as well, adding to the rich, wonderful flavour of this halva. A perfect lenten and vegan dessert!

Semolina halva with petimezi, or grape syrup, is a perfect vegan Greek dessert

I am so excited to share this recipe with you! Growing up Greek my parents made several recipes using the very special Greek ingredient called petimezi (peh-tee-MEH-zee) , or grape syrup / molasses. Petimezi is pure, concentrated grape juice made from grape must and is perhaps the world’s oldest sweetener. It is a delight! My parents used it most often to make Greek moustokouloura cookies (Grape must cookies with petimezi)

I love to get creative with halva. Once you get the basic recipe down, you can get very creative with the extra ingredients that will make your halva unique and special. This recipe is inspired by another dessert made using petimezi called moustalevria, a thick pudding made of grape must. Moustalevria is oven served with walnuts and sesame seeds, and so I have incorporated those two ingredients here as well. I hope that you love my semolina halva with petimezi as much as I do!

Why I love this recipe

It is a great balance of flavours! I use a combination of olive oil and vegetable oil to make sure that the flavour of the oil is not too strong. I add grape juice to the syrup and use petimezi in the halva as well.

It is a no-bake dessert that can be made ahead. I love that I don’t have to turn on the oven for this recipe, everything is made right in one pot, on the stove.

Key ingredients

Grape juice I use grape juice along with water as the base of the syrup that I make for the halva.

Sugar I use white granulated sugar to sweeten the halva, without impacting the actual flavour. White sugar is really mild!

Olive oil I use Greek olive oil, with its rich flavour and aroma.

Vegetable oil I also use vegetable oil in the halva because it is mild and does not overpower the grape flavour of the halva.

Coarse semolina Semolina is made from durum wheat and has a light yellow colour and coarse texture.

Cinnamon sticks I like to use cinnamon sticks when I want the cinnamon flavour without changing the colour of my recipe.

Petimezi This is also called grape molasses and comes from boiling down grape juice or must. It is thick, but not as thick as regular molasses. It is dark in colour and has a lovely aroma and sweet flavour.

Walnuts I love using walnuts in halva! I chop them up and they work really well in the halva.

Sesame seeds Pretty, tasty and even nutritious! I like to line my mould with cooking spray and sesame seeds so that then end up on top of the halva.

How to make it

Preparation

Prepare the pan
Prepare your bundt pan by spraying it lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle the bottom with the sesame seeds. Set aside.

Instructions

Step 1
In a small pot bring to a boil the 3 cups water, 3 cups grape juice, 1/2 cup of sugar and the 2 cinnamon sticks. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and set aside.

Step 2
In a large pot, combine the 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup olive oil, and the 2 cups of coarse semolina. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly to ensure that your semolina does not burn. Cook until the semolina is a light brown colour and it smell toasty.

Step 3
Add the 1 cup of chopped walnuts and cook along with the semolina for a minute. Remove from heat (but leave the element on).

Step 4
Very carefully add a ladle full of the water / grape juice liquid at a time to the cooked semolina. It will bubble and splatter initially. Slowly transfer all of the liquid to the semolina.

Step 5
Reduce heat to low medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the semolina thickens. When you run a spatula across the bottom of the pot you will notice the semolina separating and slowly coming back together.

Step 6
At this point, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the 1/2 cup of petimezi or grape syrup / molasses.

Step 7
Once the petimezi is fully incorporated, transfer the cooked semolina to your prepared bundt pan. Be sure to press down with the back of a spoon every so often to ensure that your halva takes the form of your pan – this is particularly important if your mould is intricately designed.

Step 8
Allow the halva to cool slightly and then transfer to the refrigerator until fully cooled and set.

Recipe variations

Use pecans instead of walnuts. You can also omit the nuts altogether.

You can use only olive oil or only vegetable oil in this recipe – the flavour will be different, but it will still be lovely.

How to serve

To serve the halva carefully invert your mould onto a serving dish. The halva should come right out.

When serving you can drizzle with some additional petimezi and top with some crushed walnuts.

How to store

Halva keeps well in the refrigerator for at least a week.

Cooking tips

Use a combination of vegetable oil and olive oil for this halva.

The other halva recipes I have already posted call for only olive oil, but I like using a combination of rich olive oil and a milder oil for this semolina halva with petimezi. This way, the mild but distinctive flavour of the grape juice and the petimezi really shine through.

Use a fancy mould.

You can set your halva in any container, even a plain loaf pan would work! But I think that if you have fancy cake moulds, this is a great way to showcase them. Unlike baked cakes that can be stressful to remove from cake pans, halva usually comes our very cleanly and easily, so even the most intricate mould will be amazing! Silicone moulds work well with halva too.

Don’t make halva with children or pets close by!

Adding the syrup to the cooked semolina can be treacherous!! Follow my instructions and be sure to remove the semolina from the heat and add only a little of the syrup at a time. Once you have added about half the syrup, the bubbling and sputtering should subside.

Increase the amount of sugar if you would like a sweeter semolina halva.

My semolina halva with petimezi is only lightly sweetened – I love it this way. The grape juice and petimezi flavours are not overpowered by the sugar. However, if you are looking for a very sweet dessert, increase the amount of sugar by 1/4 or even 1/2 cup.

Frequently asked questions

What is petimezi?

Petimezi is a thick (though not as thick as traditional molasses), dark and sweet syrup made from grapes. The exact flavour will depend upon the grapes used but in general it is unique, sweet and have a touch of a caramel aftertaste. After the grape harvest in Greece between August to October grape juice is boiled in large vats for days until reduced to about 1/5 the original volume. This results in a concentrated taste and rich flavour.

Where can I purchase petimezi?

If you are in Montreal or another large city you can likely find petimezi in most Greek markets or Mediterranean food stores. You can also find it online, and it is available for purchase through Amazon.

What is a good substitute for petimezi?

Nothing really compares to the flavour of petimezi, and so it is fortunate that you can purchase it online. However, if you are keen to try our semolina halva with petimezi….without petimezi either dark corn syrup, regular fancy molasses or maple syrup could work. The result will be very different from what we have here however.

Can I substitute the walnuts for something else in this semolina halva with petimezi?

Yes! If you don’t like walnuts or have a nut allergy, consider using 1 cup of raisins instead – this will tie in with the rest of the grape theme.

What is semolina?

Semolina is flour made from durum wheat (Note: the regular all-purpose flour you are probably more familiar with is made from regular wheat). The main difference between regular flour and semolina flour is that semolina tends to be coarser than regular flour and the colour is also different (semolina flour is usually darker). Semolina is also higher in gluten and protein than regular flour. You can learn more about semolina here.

In some parts of the world semolina is referred to as farina.

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