Sesame Honey Candy — Greek pasteli made with honey alone

i. Origin & history

Sesame and honey are among the oldest sweet ingredients of the Mediterranean, and cakes and sweets of the two together are mentioned in ancient Greek sources; one, called itrion, is often cited as a forerunner of pasteli. Whether ancient itria were exactly like today's bars is uncertain, but the basic combination has clearly been eaten in the Greek world for a very long time, and it survives almost unchanged.

The modern name pasteli is generally said to come from the Italian pastello, perhaps through the Venetian presence in the Ionian islands and Crete, though as with many food names the trail is unclear. Pasteli is made all over Greece and Cyprus, and island versions often include almonds or other nuts. Traditionally it was spread on citrus or lemon leaves to cool, giving it a faint perfume, and on some islands it was part of wedding celebrations, offered to guests as a symbol of a sweet and fruitful marriage.

Today pasteli is a popular snack bar, sold individually wrapped and valued as an energy food because it contains nothing but seeds and honey. Its cousins appear wherever sesame grows: the Levantine sugar-based sesame brittle (simsmiyeh), the Indian jaggery bar chikki, Chinese sesame candy and the Persian sesame-honey brittle sohan asali. What sets pasteli apart is that it uses honey only, so its flavour and texture depend entirely on the honey.

Greek cooks favour thyme honey, the aromatic, slightly herbal honey of the islands; pine honey gives a darker, less sweet bar. Both are worth seeking out for pasteli, since the honey is half the recipe.

ii. Why honey-only candy is chewy, not glassy

Sugar candy and honey candy behave differently. Table sugar (sucrose) boiled to the hard-crack stage, about 150°C, cools into a glassy, brittle solid that snaps — the texture of most nut brittles. Honey is mostly fructose and glucose, together with water and trace proteins and acids. Fructose holds on to moisture and resists crystallising, so even cooked hot, honey sets into something firmer but still slightly chewy, and it softens a little over time as it absorbs moisture from the air. That is the characteristic pasteli texture: firm enough to cut and hold, chewy enough to bite without shattering.

Honey also browns and burns much more easily than sugar, because fructose caramelises at a lower temperature and honey contains proteins that take part in Maillard browning. That is why pasteli is cooked to a moderate temperature — around 140°C — and why the seeds are often cooked in the honey, which helps the heat spread and keeps the honey from scorching. Cooked too far, it turns dark, bitter and hard; too little, and it stays sticky and will not set.

Sesame seeds are about half oil. Toasting them, either beforehand or in the honey, makes them nuttier and drier, so they absorb less moisture and keep the bars firm. Because the honey coats the seeds rather than forming a separate layer, a good pasteli is mostly seeds held together by a thin, glossy film.

Spreading thinly on an oiled surface and cutting while still warm and pliable is the final step; once cold, honey candy is too firm to cut cleanly.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 24 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 300 g hulled white sesame seeds
• 300 g Greek thyme honey or other flavourful honey
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 orange or lemon, zest only (optional)
• 60 g almonds, roughly chopped (optional)
• 1 tsp neutral oil, for the paper

Use hulled white sesame for the classic pale-gold bar; unhulled or black sesame give a stronger, slightly bitter flavour. The honey is the other half of the recipe, so choose one you like eating: thyme honey is classic Greek, pine honey darker and less sweet. Avoid very runny, mild blended honey, which sets less firmly. Almonds, pistachios or walnuts can replace up to a third of the sesame. A pinch of salt and some zest sharpen the sweetness.

iv. Method

1. Line a 20 × 30 cm tray with baking paper and brush it lightly with oil. Oil a rolling pin or a second sheet of paper.
2. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 4–5 minutes, stirring, until pale golden and fragrant. Tip into a bowl.
3. Put the honey and salt in a heavy pan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Boil for 3–4 minutes, until it foams and darkens slightly.
4. Add the sesame seeds (and almonds, if using) and cook, stirring constantly, for 5–8 minutes until the mixture is thick, glossy and golden, pulls away from the pan and reaches about 140°C (285°F) on a thermometer. A drop in cold water should set firm but bendable.
5. Stir in the zest, then tip the mixture onto the oiled paper.
6. Cover with the second sheet of oiled paper and roll or press it out quickly to an even 5–7 mm thickness.
7. Leave for 5–10 minutes until firm but still warm, then cut into bars or diamonds with an oiled knife.
8. Cool completely, about 1 hour, then separate the pieces.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Stir constantly once the seeds go in. Honey burns easily; the seeds on the bottom will scorch within seconds if left.
• Watch the colour as well as the thermometer. Stop at deep gold. Dark brown honey tastes bitter.
• Undercooked pasteli stays sticky. If it does not set, scrape it back into the pan and cook a little longer.
• Work fast when spreading. The mixture firms quickly as it cools; oiled paper and an oiled pin help.
• Cut while warm. Once cold, it cracks unevenly rather than cutting cleanly.
• Keep it dry. Honey candy absorbs moisture and turns sticky in humid air. Wrap pieces individually in baking paper.

vi. Variations

Almond pasteli replaces some of the sesame with chopped almonds. Pistachio and walnut versions are common too. Cypriot pasteli can also mean a carob-syrup and nut sweet, quite different from the sesame version. Some cooks add cinnamon, orange zest or a few bay or lemon leaves under the candy as it cools, for the old-fashioned aroma.

For the crunchier, sugar-based Levantine version, see sesame brittle; for an Indian jaggery bar, chikki; and for a chewy Persian nougat, gaz. The Greek honey cookies melomakarona use the same thyme honey.

vii. Serving & storage

Eat pasteli as a snack, with coffee or tea, or as a small sweet after a meal. It is popular as an energy bar for walks and long days, and is often given as a simple gift at Easter and weddings.

Wrap pieces individually in baking paper and store in an airtight tin at cool room temperature for up to a month. Keep away from humidity and heat, which make it sticky. It does not need the fridge, though it can be chilled in hot weather to keep it firm.

ix. More from Middle Eastern

• Sesame Brittle — Levantine simsmiyeh
• Turkish Delight — rose lokum
• Melomakarona — Greek honey cookies
• Gaz — Persian nougat
• Chikki — Indian jaggery brittle
• Honeycomb Candy — airy sugar candy