Tahini Custard Pie (Mediterranean Sesame Dessert)

Tahini Custard Pie is a one-of-a-kind Mediterranean dessert that transforms creamy sesame tahini into a silky, custard baked inside a buttery sesame seed crust. 

Tahini Custard Pie

Tahini Custard Pie is a one-of-a-kind Mediterranean dessert that transforms creamy sesame tahini into a silky, lightly spiced custard baked inside a buttery sesame seed flour crust. If you’ve only enjoyed tahini in hummus, prepare to discover an entirely new side of this beloved Middle Eastern ingredient. The toasted sesame flavor becomes rich, nutty, and surprisingly elegant when paired with sweet cream, eggs, and fragrant cardamom.

A New Recipe with Ancient Roots

This original Tahini Custard Pie began with a simple realization. Growing up with my Syrian heritage, tahini was as common in our kitchen as peanut butter is in many American homes. One day it struck me, if peanut butter and almond butter can become creamy desserts, why couldn’t silky sesame tahini?

That single question inspired me to create what became a recipe that had never existed before and later won my challenge on The Great American Recipe, with PBS.

What Does Tahini Custard Pie Taste Like?

The filling is smooth like crème brûlée, the cookie-like sesame crust adds delicate crunch, and every slice delivers layers of warm, toasted flavor that feel both familiar and unexpected.

Whether you’re looking for a unique holiday dessert, an impressive dinner party finale, or simply a new way to bake with tahini, this pie proves that sesame belongs just as much in dessert as it does in savory cooking.

Why You’ll Love This Tahini Custard Pie

Dare I say this recipe appeared to me in a dream, through a poof of sesame seeds that escaped from my Genie lamp! A decadent treat, Aladdin himself would approve of.

• Unique and unexpected dessert
• Creamy, silky custard texture
• Rich sesame flavor without being too sweet
• Inspired by Mediterranean traditions
• Perfect for special occasions or tea time
• Can be made as a pie or individual tarts

Ingredients You’ll Need

Tahini Custard Pie Ingredients Are All About Sesame Seeds!

• Butter, sweet unsalted butter kept cold until ready to make the pie crust
• Flour, my preference is King Arthur bread flour, for its higher protein count in both pastry and bread making
• Sesame flour is a flour made from sesame seeds, rich in protein and fiber, offering both flavor and texture to an otherwise white pie crust
• Sugar, raw or white sugar
• Salt, finely ground sea salt
• Eggs, for both the custard and an egg white for the crust
• Milk and Half and half for the custard
• Sesame seeds, raw and not toasted as they will get toasted while baking
• Tahini, I keep a homemade tahini in the fridge, however tahini is easy to find online and in most grocery stores
• Farina, a finely ground wheat farina used often in Middle Eastern desserts
• Cardamom powder, an aromatic spicy-sweet spice used in eastern culture cooking

Tools You Will Want To Make This Tahini Pie or Tarts

• Measuring tools for accurate measurements.
• Rolling pin, both regular size, and it helps to have a small Dough Roller to roll the bottom of the crust thinner once in the pan.
• Ceramic Baking Dish for a regular size pie or Wide-mouth mason jar lids for individual tarts with easy removal from the lids (used as tart pans, see video below)
• Food processor is an easy way to prepare the crust, and then use it for mixing together the filling
• Genie cookie cutter (optional), an adorable addition to the theme of the pie
• Oven, where the magic happens and the kitchen is filled with alluring exotic smells

How To Make Tahini Custard Pie

1. Prepare your crust and place into pie dish or tart pans.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. In a bowl, whisk together tahini and remaining custard ingredients until smooth.
4. Pour mixture into prepared crust.
5. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.
6. Bake until the custard is set but still slightly soft in the center.
7. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.

Tips for the Best Tahini Custard Pie

• Use high-quality tahini for the best flavor
• Don’t over-bake, custard should remain slightly soft
• Let it cool completely for clean slices
• Taste and adjust sweetness if needed

Tips To Make The Sesame Pie Crust

• For the very best crust, try to get ahold of sesame flour to add to the all purpose flour. 
• If obtaining sesame flour is not possible, it can be made by grinding the sesame seeds on the finest setting in a coffee grinder.
• Like most pie crusts, the flour, butter and sugar are whisked together into a dough, that is rolled into a pie plate. 

Variations and Substitutions

• Add orange blossom water for floral notes
• Use honey instead of sugar
• Make mini tart versions for entertaining
• Add a light dusting of cinnamon
• A drizzle of melted chocolate, lightly scented with cinnamon, can be added once the pie or tarts have cooled

How To Serve Tahini Custard Pie

• Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature
• Pair with coffee or tea
• Garnish with sesame seeds or a drizzle of honey

How to Store

• Refrigerate up to 3-4 days
• Cover tightly
• Best served slightly warmed or at room temperature

FAQ

Does tahini make desserts taste savory?
No, tahini adds a nutty richness that balances sweetness without making the dessert savory.

Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes, it’s a great make-ahead dessert as the flavors deepen as it rests.

Can I use store-bought tahini?
Yes, just make sure it’s well-stirred and smooth.

More Mediterranean-Inspired Dessert Recipes

• Mediterranean Baklawa (also known as Baklava) – My family’s recipe is as richly steeped in history as it is honey!
• Quick Pistachio Phyllo Pastries – Flaky phyllo pastries filled with pistachios, warm spices, creamy goat cheese, and a drizzle of honey. An easy shortcut to classic Mediterranean desserts.
• Pistachio Ouzo Cookies – an expression of zest for life, celebrated by dancing and drinking… OPA!
• Tahini Date Halva Babka with beets and carrots is a naturally sweetened twist on traditional babka, swirled with a vibrant halva-inspired filling.
• Maamoul Traditional Date Stuffed Arab Cookies are a date filled cookie dough of farina and Arab spices, shaped in the ancient wooden Maamoul mold.

More Custard Pies To Love

Hopefully by now, I have intrigued you for unusual custard pie flavors that are easy to make. It’s just something I love creating and never seem to run out of ideas for the next Best custard pie idea!

• Almond Crusted Chocolate Custard Pie – with its almond and cacao cookie-like crust and silky chocolate custard filling, is a chocolate lovers pie.
• Peach Pecan Rum Spiked Custard Pie – loaded with fresh peaches, a pecan  butter crust and a spiced rum pecan crisp topping.
• Grandmas Bourbon Pecan Pie – loaded with pecans, both in the pie crust and filling; which is a boozy custard with good ole southern Bourbon. 
• Quick Custard Raspberry Mini Tarts – perfectly formed in mini-tart pans, sweetened condensed milk and eggs, and baked to summertime perfection.

There are many more, one with Sweet Potato, another a Cranberry Orange Blossom Pie, so by all means, check out more of my custard pie recipes.

The Inspiration For Tahini Custard Pie

Having grown up with a Syrian mom, who cooked both Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine in our home, introduced my sisters and me to fabulous flavors and unusual ingredients. 

Growing up in the countryside of Maryland, there were no international markets or a section in the grocery stores for unusual ingredients. Therefore, our family would drive into Washington DC once a month for olives, sheep milk cheese, figs and ‘halvah’!

My inspiration was from my favorite candy growing up, halvah, a fudge like candy made out of sesame paste! So, you see, tahini is not just for hummus!

Tahini Custard Pie – Recipe created by Robin Daumit © 2020

Made with a creamy sesame tahini custard and cookie-like sesame seed pie crust.

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Pies

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: Tahini Custard Pie

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Equipment

• Pie Dish
• Rolling Pin
• Cookie cutter optional

Ingredients

• Tahini Pie Crust
• 8 tbsp Unsalted butter cold
• 1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
• 1/4 cup Sesame flour *see notes
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 Egg white save the yolk for the custard
• 1/4 cup Milk, cold reserve 1 tbsp
• 1 tbsp Sesame seeds
• Tahini Custard Filling
• 2 Whole Eggs plus 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Tahini
• 1 cup Half and half
• 1/3 cup Farina also known as cream of wheat
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions

• Tahini Pie Crust
• In a food processor, place the dry ingredients (except seeds), with butter and pulse until it crumbles together.
• Mix the milk and egg-white together, reserving 1 tablespoon milk.

  While the machine is running, pour in the wet mixture.

  It should come together quickly into a ball.

  Take the 'pie-pastry test' pressing the dough between two fingers; you want it to be able to leave your fingerprint in the dough. If it crumbles apart it needs a splash more liquid, if it sticks to your fingers it needs a sprinkle more flour.
• On a floured surface, with a rolling pin, roll the dough out and place in the pie dish.

  With a small pastry roller, roll the bottom of the crust as thin as you can get it without it breaking. This can be done also by pressing the dough from center towards the edges.

  Shape and crimp the edges, and brush with reserved milk, followed by a sprinkle of the sesame seeds around the edges.
• *see notes for optional crust cutouts.
• Preheat oven to 400.
• Tahini Custard Filling
• Place all of the custard ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until light and frothy.

  Pour into the pie crust, and place in the preheated oven to bake for 10-minutes.
• Lower the temperature of the oven to 325, and bake until the custard is firm and the crust is golden brown, about another 45-minutes.

  Cool to room temperature and serve.

Notes

Tahini Custard Pie was originally created right here in my kitchen, and later introduced on PBS Great American Recipe ©

If you try this tahini custard pie, I’d love to know what you think. Have you used tahini in desserts before? Leave a comment below or save this recipe for later, it’s one that always sparks curiosity and conversation.

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Robin

I am all about the gratification of the senses, and so I have become passionate about capturing the stimuli for my senses through videography and photography. Food provides some of the most alluring subject matter to capture on film, and videography does what a still shot can not do: capture sound. When you hear something sizzling, or pouring, your taste buds and sense of smell are already engaged.

I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.

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