Hot Fudge Sundaes — with a Tahini Twist!

Elevated ice cream alert

Katherine Lewin is founder of NYC-based entertaining retailer Big Night. She's also a former food journalist and is the author of Big Night: Dinners, Parties & Dinner Parties. She's appeared on the Today Show, What What Happens Live and elsewhere across media sharing go-to cooking and entertaining tips.

July 10, 2024 1:30 pm

Wondercade readers know that Katherine Lewin — food expert, entertaining pro and founder of Big Night, the coolest spot in NYC to get the most inventive, most beautiful and most useful stuff you need to throw a dinner party — already appeared in the July 10 issue of the newsletter with a fab shrimp salad recipe. Well, Katherine’s got even more up her sleeve: sesame-flavored sundaes topped with tahini. (For even more recipes that’ll get your cookout cookin’, check out Katherine’s new book.) And with that, Katherine’s here with today’s dessert course.

If you have ice cream in your freezer, you already have a dinner party dessert. But when you want to go big(ger), set up a sundae bar. Make the tahini hot fudge in advance — then, when you’re ready to serve, pull it out of the fridge and warm it in a saucepan over low heat. Grab the ice cream out of the freezer. While the fudge warms and the ice cream softens, make whipped cream. Gather some cherries and/or nuts and/or halva, and, suddenly, you have a dessert that everyone will be thinking about tomorrow.

Forks and knives on a counter at Big Night — Big Night’s pretty merch will make your feast as visually appetizing as possible

@bignightshop/Instagram

Tahini Hot Fudge Sundaes

Servings: 8+ servings

Copy Ingredients

Ingredients

Vanilla, chocolate, and/or coffee ice cream, softened
1 (8-oz.) package halva (optional)
Whipped cream
Shelled roasted, salted pistachios, chopped (optional)
Maraschino, amaro-soaked, or pitted fresh cherries (optional)
Tahini Fudge (recipe follows)

For the Tahini Fudge:

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 ½ cups agave nectar
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
½ cup tahini
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Directions

Copy Directions

1. 1. Make the fudge: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. 2. Whisk in the agave, cream, and salt.
3. 3. Whisking occasionally, bring to a rolling boil, 3 to 5 minutes. Continue to boil, whisking often and adjusting the heat as needed to keep the pot from boiling over, until the mixture has darkened slightly and thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. 4. Reduce the heat to low, then whisk in the tahini and chopped chocolate until smooth and incorporated.
5. 5. Remove the pan from the heat and pour over ice cream immediately, or cover to keep warm (to reheat, simply place over low heat until you’ve reached peak pourability). The fudge can be made up to 3 weeks in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave in 30-second intervals, or in a pot over low heat.
6. 6. Make the sundaes: Scoop a bit of the fudge into bowls or cups. Add a couple of scoops of ice cream to each (only you know how much is “enough”). Drizzle with more fudge, crumble the halva over the top, dollop with whipped cream, sprinkle with pistachios, and, of course, top with a cherry.

Chef’s Note: If you have wide coupes or any other glasses that can accommodate ice cream, use them. Seeing the layers of hot fudge, ice cream, and whipped cream as you eat is an extra treat.

Chef’s Note: You can make the tahini fudge ahead, and store it for up to 3 weeks.