Tahinopita

A coiled sweet bread with tahini rolled through it, made with no dairy and no egg at all.

Vegan.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 500 g plain flour
• 7 g fast-action yeast
• 60 g caster sugar
• 250 ml warm water
• 60 ml olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• zest of 1 orange

For the filling

• 250 g tahini, stirred thoroughly
• 120 g caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 60 g walnuts, finely chopped

To finish

• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• a little oil, to brush

Method

1. THERE IS NO BUTTER, NO MILK AND NO EGG IN THIS, and the tahini is doing all of their work. It is the fat in the filling, it is what makes the layers separate, and it is the flavour. Anyone substituting butter has made a cinnamon bun.
2. THE TAHINI JAR IS STIRRED TO THE BOTTOM FIRST. It separates hard in storage into oil on top and a brick of paste underneath, and 250 g spooned off the top is mostly oil -- the filling will run out of the ends in the oven. Stir it with a palette knife until it is one even paste again.
3. AND THE FILLING IS SPREAD THIN. Thick tahini between the layers does not set and the coil slides apart when it is cut. A thin even film is enough; there is a lot of surface area in a rolled coil.
4. Yeast and a spoon of the sugar into the warm water, 10 minutes until frothy.
5. Flour, remaining sugar, salt and zest in a bowl. Yeast water and oil added, then kneaded 10 minutes to a soft smooth dough.
6. Risen 1 hour 30 minutes, covered, until doubled.
7. Filling: tahini, sugar and cinnamon beaten together until smooth. It will thicken as the sugar dissolves.
8. Dough rolled out on an oiled surface to a large thin rectangle, about 40 by 50 cm and 3 mm thick.
9. Filling spread over it in a THIN even layer, right to three edges, leaving 2 cm clear on one long edge. Walnuts scattered over.
10. Rolled up tightly from the opposite long edge into a long sausage, and the clear edge pinched to seal.
11. The sausage stretched gently to about a metre, then coiled into a spiral on a lined tray, tucking the end underneath.
12. Risen 45 minutes on the tray, covered.
13. Brushed with oil, sesame scattered over, and baked at 180C for 35 to 40 minutes until deep gold.
14. Cooled at least 30 minutes before cutting -- hot, the filling is molten and the coil slides.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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