This chocolate halva cake brings together some of the most delicious flavours of Middle Eastern desserts. Three layers of moist chocolate cake are filled with tahini buttercream, dark chocolate ganache and crumbled halva, then finished with chopped pistachios. The tahini adds a subtle nuttiness that balances the sweetness of the cake, while the halva brings its distinctive crumbly texture.

For the recipe’s creator, those flavours also bring back memories of childhood in Bahrain.

“Halva reminds me of my childhood growing up in Bahrain. I remember streets lined with date palms and bougainvillea, and a kitchen pantry stocked with pistachios, dates, black tea, tahini, and halva. I haven’t been back to Bahrain in over 20 years, but I still get homesick for those colours, that pantry, and those flavours.”

Chocolate Halva Cake with Tahini Buttercream

Melissa Owens

A rich three-layer chocolate cake filled with nutty tahini buttercream, dark chocolate ganache and crumbled halva, finished with chopped pistachios.

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Ingredients

Cake

1¼ cups 175 g all-purpose ﬂour
1¼ cups 250 g sugar
½ cup + 3 Tbsp 91 g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
⅔ cup 160 ml full-fat or non-dairy milk
⅔ cup 160 ml coﬀee or water, at room temperature
⅓ cup 80 ml vegetable oil
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Tahini Icing
¾ cup 170 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup 130 g icing sugar
⅓ cup 83 g tahini
1 tsp vanilla extract

Ganache Glaze

½ cup 125 ml whipping cream
¾ cup 125 g good-quality dark chocolate callets
Filling and Garnish
¼ cup 45 g crumbled halva
¼ cup 35 g shelled chopped pistachios

Instructions

Cake

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch cake pans. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake until a knife inserted in the centre of each cake comes out clean, 20–24 minutes.
Sift the ﬂour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
Place the milk, coﬀee or water, oil, egg, yolk, and vanilla in another large bowl and whisk together until smooth.
Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Finish oﬀ by folding the batter with a silicone spatula, making sure to scrape the very bottom of the bowl and checking for any dry ingredients that may have escaped the whisk.
Place the pans on a wire rack. Allow the cakes or cupcakes to cool completely on a cooling rack before decorating.

Tahini Icing

Place the butter in the bowl of the stand mixer and sift in the icing sugar. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and start mixing on low speed. Once the icing sugar has been incorporated increase the speed to medium. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat until light and ﬂuﬀy, 3–5 minutes. Add the tahini and vanilla and mix until smooth and fully combined.

Ganache Glaze

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. (If you’re using a chocolate bar be sure to roughly chop it into small pieces.) Bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat and pour it over the chocolate. (Do not allow the cream to boil). Allow the mixture to stand without stirring for 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
Allow the ganache to cool at room temperature until slightly thickened and glossy, about 10 minutes, and then pour it over your cake. Slightly cooling the ganache when it is being used as a glaze will prevent it from being too thin and rolling right oﬀ of the cake. Ganache that’s poured too warm won’t have a smooth, shiny, luxurious ﬁnish. If this happens, don’t worry. Just cool your bowl of ganache a bit more, and then pour a second layer onto the cake.

Assembly

Trim the tops of the cake layers if necessary.
Place one cake layer on your cake turntable, top it with some tahini icing, and use an oﬀset spatula to spread it right to the edges of the cake. Fit a piping bag with a round tip and ﬁll it with tahini icing. Pipe a border of icing around the outer edge of the cake and ﬁll the centre with a few tablespoons of ganache glaze, followed by half of the halva. Add the second layer of cake followed by more tahini icing but no ganache or halva this time.
Add the third layer of cake and pipe the remaining tahini icing all over the top and sides of the cake. Use an oﬀset spatula to spread the icing around and then use a cake scraper to clean up the sides of the cake. Pour the remaining ganache glaze on top of the cake and use the oﬀset spatula to move it around, allow-ing it to drip over the sides. Garnish the cake with pistachios and the remaining halva.

Notes

Note: Be sure to mix the jar of tahini well before adding it to the icing, as tahini tends to separate in the jar. If you use only the oily top layer, your icing will not come together properly.

Keyword Chocolate cake with ganache, chocolate tahini cake, Tahini buttercream

Frequently Asked Questions

What is halva made from?: Halva is a confection enjoyed across the Middle East, Mediterranean and beyond. The sesame-based variety used in this cake is typically made with tahini and sugar, giving it a rich, nutty flavour and a distinctive crumbly texture.
What does tahini taste like in chocolate cake?: Tahini has a rich, toasted sesame flavour with a slightly savoury edge. In the buttercream, it balances the sweetness of the icing and complements the dark chocolate.
Can I make chocolate halva cake ahead of time?: Yes. The cake layers can be baked a day ahead, cooled completely and wrapped tightly until you’re ready to assemble the cake. The finished cake can also be refrigerated, but allow it to come closer to room temperature before serving so the buttercream softens.
Can I make this cake without coffee?: Yes. The recipe allows you to substitute room-temperature water for the coffee. The cake will still have plenty of chocolate flavour.