Halva Time!!!

Halva and Chocolate cupcakes were requested for a friends birthday.

Halva and chocolate is a popular flavour combination here in Israel. Halva is easy to find in many different forms and flavours, for this recipe I wanted to get the Halva flavour just right so I did not play around with the different kinds, I used the classic sesame halva that comes compressed into a block shape, I guess you could also use Halva spread- but the classic kind is guaranteed to give the most flavour.

I wasn't quite sure how I would make the frosting since there isn't really a recipe for Halva frosting, so I had to come up with something myself. To start I used the basic idea behind the Krembo cream I made a few weeks ago, and just substituted some of the white chocolate with Halva- and it worked great! The frosting was simply a Halva frosting, It had a really distinct flavour which paired beatifully with the light and airy chocolate cupcakes.

The recipe for the chocolate cakes I got from 'The Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook' which my mom bought me for last christmas. The recipe calls for lots of whisking and beating which makes a very light and airy cupcake and somehow I got almost twice the amount of cakes from it. I also threw in some bitter-sweet chocolate just to pump up the chocolate flavour a tad more.

Overall they were a success, the birthday girl totally loved them and so did everybody else.

Chocolate Halva Cupcakes:

Cakes*:

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp instant coffee granules (or powder)

1 cup hot water

1 cup cocoa

1 cup cold water

200 gr softened butter

2 ½ cups sugar

4 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

100 gr bitter-sweet chocolate (chopped)

Frosting**:

2X 250 ml heavy cream (total: 500 ml)

100 gr white chocolate

175 gr halva

Start with the frosting because it needs to be made beforehand.

Pour the first amount of heavy cream (250 ml) in a saucepan, as soon as it starts to boil pour it over the chocolate and crumbled (or chopped) halva, let it sit for a minute and then start mixing until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for atleast 4 hours.

Move on to the cupcakes, Preheat oven to 170°. Line two 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a seperate bowl whisk together the coffee, hot water and cocoa until you have a smooth paste. Add the cold water and whisk until evenly combined.

In a seperate bowl, cream butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the sugar a third at a time, beating for 2 minutes after each addition. After the last addition, beat until mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar has almost dissolved. add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition or until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine.

Add a quarter of the flour mix to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Add a third of the cocoa liquid and beat until combined. Repeat this process twice more. Add the remaining quarter of the flour and beat until thoroughly combined; do not over-beat as this will toughen the mixture.

Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about ¾ full. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Remove cupcakes from trays immediatly and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting.

Then frost each cupcake with a fair amount of frosting.

* The recipe says it makes 24 but I got way more.

**Depending on the amount, the frosting is enough for about 20 cupcakes.