Double Chocolate Malt Cake

Double Chocolate Malt Cake

Owing to the fact that my brain is a bit dead since finishing my literature review last week, I’ve been struggling to motivate myself to write about this cake. Thus, I’m keeping it super short & sweet today because honestly, I don’t think I need to do much talking about this cake anyway – the title is almost enough!

Double Chocolate Malt Cake

I made this cake for my friend’s birthday at the end of January and oooh it’s a good one. It was originally going to be a 2 layer cake then, in a last minute panic, I made a third layer because there can never be TOO much cake – eh? The sponge is the standard, moist chocolate cake you’ve probably made before. The standout here is the frosting, for me. I based it on this chocolate pudding frosting (with malt powder added for that salty kick) but I found it too goopy to use like that. Soo I ended up beating a bunch of butter and cocoa powder into it. Worked a treat, made a hell of a lot of frosting and it’s WAY less sweet than a standard buttercream. Oh hellloooo!

Double Chocolate Malt Cake

Double Chocolate Malt Cake

4.50 from 42 votes
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Course: Cake
Servings: 3 -layered cake

Ingredients

  • 75 g (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) unsalted butter
  • 80 ml (1/3 cup) refined olive oil or neutral oil
  • 60 g (3/4 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 45 g (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) malted milk powder
  • 300 g (1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 190 ml (3/4 cup) full fat yogurt
  • 250 ml (1 cup) just-boiled water or hot coffee
  • 300 g (2 1/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda , (baking soda)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 x recipe for chocolate malt pudding-style frosting , (see recipe below)
  • 100 g maltesers , , crushed

Instructions

  • Grease and line three 20cm cake tins. If they’re loose-bottomed, place them onto a couple of baking trays to catch any batter which drips through. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F).
  • In a small pot, melt the butter over a low heat until just melted. Pour into a large bowl and mix together with the oil, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, sugar, eggs and yogurt until well combined. Pour in the just-boiled water and quickly (but carefully) mix together until smooth.
  • Add in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Use a whisk to gently stir together until the flour has just been mixed in.
  • Divide the batter between lined tins and bake for 35-45 minutes until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out mostly clean – ok if a few crumbs are stuck – and when gently poked, the cake springs back. Leave to cool for a few minutes then gently loosen the edges of the cake with a knife. Leave to cool completely then pop out of the tins.
  • Once cooled, level the cakes using a serrated knife if the layers have domed tops. Use the frosting to sandwich the layers together and to coat the entire cake. Decorate with crushed maltesers.
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it went! Mention @izyhossack or tag #topwithcinnamon!
Double Chocolate Malt Cake

Chocolate Malt Pudding-Style Frosting

4.48 from 23 votes
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Course: Misc

Ingredients

  • 500 ml (2 cups) full fat milk*
  • 200 g (7.1 oz) bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate
  • 35 g (1/4 cup) malted milk power
  • 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
  • 50 g (1/3 cup) corn flour (cornstarch)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 100 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 40 g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  • In a medium pot, warm the milk over a medium heat with the chocolate, malted milk powder and granulated sugar (stirring so that the sugar dissolves) until gently steaming.
  • Place the cornstarch into a small bowl and pour in some of the hot milk mixture. Stir together to get a slurry then pour this into the pot and return to the heat. Keep stirring over a medium-low heat until thickened then stir in the vanilla extract. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature before covering and chilling until completely cold. (this is the chocolate pudding)
  • Once the pudding has cooled, place the softened butter into a large bowl. Cream the butter together with the cocoa powder and salt until smooth and slightly fluffy. Gradually stir in spoonfuls of the cold pudding, beating well between additions to incorporate it fully, until you have a smooth, spreadable frosting (you may not need all of the pudding).

Notes

- Adapted from BBC goodfood
- *I used almond milk in the frosting and just added 1 tbsp of butter whilst making the pudding, instead of using the full-fat milk
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it went! Mention @izyhossack or tag #topwithcinnamon!

24 thoughts on “Double Chocolate Malt Cake”

  1. You’re right – this cake does speak for itself!! It looks so decadent and delicious 😀

  2. This looks so good, especially for a chocoholic like me. Will have to do some research on where to get malten milk powder in Germany. Thanks for this!

  3. It’s good that you made it, as it looks too chocolatey not to try.

  4. That frosting sounds amazing! And this cake is just gorgeous. Also I saw your lit review on insta stories once you finished! Mendeley is at once a curse and the most life-saving thing ever. It got me through my Master’s thesis for sure. 😉 Have a couple slices of this baby, because you deserve it! xoxo

  5. What camera and lens do you use? Beautiful, Izzy! I used to love malt, so I’m gonna look into gluten-free candies with a similar flavor.

  6. Totally relate to being a little brain-dead! I’ve just finished a crazy week of schoolwork, but there is more to come in the future! ☹️ Study breaks are great, because I can look at amazing recipes like this cake!!

  7. 5 stars
    I just made this cake, it’s in my oven right now and it smells so good, thank you for the recipe !

  8. 5 stars
    We thought this cake turned out excellent. If I made it again, I’d definitely use more malt (probably double), because the malt flavor didn’t really come through at the current levels. Also, I used 9″ cake pans so I reduced cooking time to 24 minutes and that worked well!

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