Tahini Flavour Inspiration

Posted: 24 Sep 2026

Open Sesame: Flavour Pairings to Unlock Tahini's Sweet Side

Tahini has traditionally stayed on the savoury side of the kitchen, next to the hummus and the flatbreads. Not anymore. It’s turning up in babka, brownies, soft-serve and bonbons, and Tastewise put tahini at +95% year on year in dessert conversation online. Like nut pastes, this sesame paste brings a toasted, faintly bitter savouriness that stops a sweet treat from tasting one dimensional. It even appears in the original Dubai chocolate bar recipe!

We’ve just added SOC Chef Tahini Paste to the range, so keep reading for what tahini actually is, what it tastes like, the flavours that bring out its best, and the chocolate and bakery recipes we’re loving…

by Lyndsey Hall

24 September 2026

What Is Tahini?

Tahini is a paste made of ground sesame seeds, similar to a nut paste. Ours is 100% stone-ground toasted sesame, with no added sugar, salt or stabiliser.

Sesame is one of the oldest oilseed crops in the world; charred remains found on the Indian subcontinent have been dated to around 3500 BCE, and sesame was traded into Mesopotamia before 2000 BCE. Seeds were even found in Tutankhamun’s tomb. (And “open sesame” is thought to come from the seed pod, which bursts open at the lightest touch when it’s ripe.)

It then travelled with traders across western Asia to Europe and North Africa, and the confections that came out of that journey, like halva and sesame brittle, are still popular today.

Whilst not a nut, sesame is one of the fourteen allergens that must be declared in its own right in the UK, so tahini needs naming on the label just as clearly as a nut would.

What Does Tahini Taste Like?

Toasted, rich and nutty, with a gentle bitterness and a savoury edge that’s almost salty. It behaves in the kitchen much like a 100% nut paste: it’s around half fat, it carries flavour rather than sweetness, and it will loosen a ganache in exactly the way a hazelnut paste does.

Because tahini brings no sugar of its own, you can add it to a recipe without pushing the sweetness up, which is why it works so well in caramels, gianduja-style bars and anything that’s already sweet enough. Give the tub a proper stir before you weigh, though—pure sesame separates, and the oil sitting on top is an essential part of your recipe.

Tahini or Sesame Paste?

Tahini – sesame seeds, toasted and ground to a paste, unsweetened
Sesame paste – often the same thing, but the East Asian version is usually made from more heavily toasted seeds and tastes darker and stronger
Black tahini – made from unhulled black sesame, more bitter and dramatically grey-black in colour
Halva – tahini whipped with a sugar or honey syrup until it sets into that crumbly, flaky block. Ottoman in origin, and still the best-known sweet use of sesame anywhere

For chocolate and bakery work, a 100% tahini is the one to reach for.

What Goes with Tahini?

Tahini is savoury, rich and slightly bitter, so it flatters sweet, sharp and floral flavours:

Dates & Dried Fruit

Dates bring a deep, treacly sweetness that tahini’s bitterness cuts straight through, and the two together taste unmistakably of halva. Our Whole Dates blend into a purée that works beautifully in a caramel — our own Tahini & Date Millionaire’s Shortbread is built on exactly that. Chopped Dates give you the same flavour with texture left in.

Honey & Caramel

Sesame and honey is one of the oldest sweet pairings there is, and it still works: the florality lifts tahini’s earthiness without adding much more sugar. Callebaut Honey Flavoured Milk Chocolate does the job in a shell or a bar. Caramel is the other natural partner, since both bring cooked, slightly bitter notes — Gold Salted Caramel Crispearls scattered through a tahini filling give you flavour and crunch at once.

Pistachio

Two ingredients from the same part of the world, and they pair beautifully. Pistachio‘s sweet greenness sits perfectly against tahini’s savoury depth. Pistachio Nut Paste blends into a filling, Pistachio Praliné brings the caramelised sugar with it, and Nibbed Pistachio or Whole Pistachios add colour and bite on top.

Citrus

Sharp fruit is what stops a tahini filling becoming too bland and savoury. Candied Orange Peel Shavings folded through a ganache is an easy way to achieve this pairing, and yuzu is the adventurous choice—our own Black Sesame & Yuzu Gelato already pairs those two flavours to spectacular effect!

Warm Spices

Cardamom is the number one choice for warming spices to pair with tahini. A drop or two in a tahini ganache takes the whole thing somewhere more interesting, and Cardamom Spice Drops makes it an easy job. Cinnamon would be the ideal second choice for a more familiar autumnal flavour.

Chocolate

Dark Chocolates:

Milk Chocolates:

Blond & White Chocolates:

Tahini is also one of the easiest ways to make a genuinely good vegan bake, since it’s plant-based and does the enriching job that butter or cream usually does. Pair it with any of our vegan friendly chocolates for a delicious plant-based treat.

Crunch & Texture

Texture is still a huge trend in confectionery and bakery, and tahini is smooth, so it needs a crunchy or crispy partner. Roasted Kadaif is the ideal one to reach for—it’s the same culinary tradition, it stays crisp, and it’s what our Sesame Truffles are rolled in. Cocoa Nibs bring bitterness and crunch together, and Coated Honeycomb Granules give you a sweeter bite to balance the savoury.

Our Favourite Recipes with Tahini

Our development kitchen has been busy with this one, and every recipe has had the team reaching for more:

Tahini is a subtle, earthy flavour that brings a savoury nuttiness to balance your sweet recipes. It’s the ideal addition if you’re looking to make your range more modern, premium and exciting without going too extreme. Give one of our recipes a try and let us know what you think!

Ready to discover the other nut and seed pastes in our range? Take a look at our other blogs on:

We love to see what you make with our products, so don’t forget to tag us @keylinkltd on social media in all your tahini creations!