Chocolate Halva Bundt Cake

Soft, chocolaty bundt with chunks of nutty sweet halva in the cake and a halva brown butter glaze. 

Why make this chocolate halva bundt recipe? 

Truth be told, I have had this basic chocolate bundt recipe in my arsenal for quite a long time and haven’t had a reason to share it but I added some halva into it and gave it a wonderful brown butter glaze and suddenly it was no longer basic but it was the choc/halva cake combo of my dreams. 

The cake itself is soft but firm, not fluffy but definitely moist. It gets its lift and moisture from a combination of oil, eggs and kefir and it’s a pretty simple bake but it always comes out perfectly. 

The bits of halva in the cake melt in the oven and turn kind of gummy, it’s such a pleasure to run into them as you eat the cake. I chose a brown butter glaze because brown butter & halva go together so well, accenting each other’s nutty taste in the very best way. 

Ingredients for Chocolate Halva Bundt Cake 

• Flour: all purpose flour, avoid a flour with a high protein content (those are best for breads). 
• Sugar: fine granulated sugar. 
• Cocoa: dutch process cocoa, use a good quality – a lot is going into this cake! 
• Oil: I’ve used avocado oil, olive oil and canola oil when making this cake and it comes out perfect every time. 
• Kefir: I use Lifeway’s Chocolate Kefir here which is a little sweetened and enhances the chocolate taste in the cake but you can also use plain kefir (full or low-fat). 
• Eggs: large eggs, best if they are at room temperature. 
• Halva: I used a marbled halva (its part chocolate) from a local middle eastern store and I do think they’ll always have the best options. In a pinch, trader joes has a marbled halva they sell in small packs. 

FAQ on Chocolate Halva Bundt

What can I use if I can’t find kefir at all? 

I have done this successfully with a mix of sour cream and hot water (¾ cup of each). You can also use buttermilk. 

Can I make this in something other than a bundt pan? 

You can make it in two loaf pans or in cake pans, baking times will differ. 

Can I halve this recipe? 

Yes, although halving that egg will be tricky. If you don’t want to halve a whole egg just use the yolk. 

I don’t want to make brown butter for the glaze, what else can I put on top? 

You can do a simple vanilla glaze, simply skip the brown butter. Alternatively, make a chocolate glaze or even a ganache.

Chocolate Halva Bundt Cake Recipe

Chocolate Halva Bundt Cake

Soft, chocolatey bundt with chunks of nutty sweet halva in the cake and a halva brown butter glaze.

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr

Yields: 10

5 from 3 votes

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Ingredients

Chocolate Halva Bundt Cake

• 2 cups flour 275g
• 1 ½ cups sugar 370g
• ¾ cups dutch cocoa 85g
• ¾ cup canola oil 163g
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ cups kefir or buttermilk 387g
• 3 eggs
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
• 50 g crumbled halva

Brown Butter Glaze

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Pinch salt splash of vanilla
• 2-4 tablespoons heavy cream

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease & flour a 10 cup bundt pan.
• In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
• In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy – about a full 5 minutes.With the beaters on, gradually pour in the oil, allowing it to blend into the batter as you pour.
• Add half of the flour mixture to the bowl, beating as you add it in slowly. Pour in the kefir and vanilla, then the rest of the flour mixture. Beat to combine and have a smooth batter. Fold in the crumbled halva.
• Pour into the prepared bundt pan and bake until you can press it in the center and it bounces back, about 60 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes but up to 30. Place a plate on top and invert the pan and lift up the pan so the cake is on the plate. Allow to cool fully before making the glaze.
• For the glaze: in a skillet add the butter and cook until you can see brown bits. Transfer to a bowl, scraping the pan to get all the brown bits. Once it’s cool, skim off the top milky bit and discard. In a bowl, combine the brown butter bits, the powdered sugar and vanilla and add as much heavy cream as you need to make a thick glaze. Spoon it over the cake and add more crumbled halva.

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