Chocolate Malt Cake: Serendipity, Malt Ball Tasting, and My Baking Elf #TheCakeSliceBakers

 

Here we are the kick-off for the 2021 edition of the Cake Slice Bakers. For 2021, we will be baking from Little Everyday Cakes: 50+ Perfectly Proportioned Confections to Enjoy Any Day of the Week by Candace Floyd.* I can't believe that we're already in a new year. In many ways 2020 dragged on as the shelter-in-place orders continued month after month; on the other hand, it was a completely blur because there weren't milestones to mark the passage of time.

In this group, we are given a selection of three cake recipes. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

Here's the line-up for this first month of 2021...

Lemon-Rosemary Yogurt Loaf

• All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Camille Cooks
• Margaret's Yummies

Chocolate Malt Cake

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• My Recipe Reviews
• A Little Bit of All Right
• Amandie Bakes
• Making Miracles
• Sweet Sensations

Oatmeal-Applesauce Cake with Lemony Apple Topping

• Karen's Kitchen Stories

Serendipity

As usual, whenever I have cookbooks sitting on my desk or the dining room table, the boys will inevitably pick them up and thumb through them. I hadn't even seen Felice's picks for this month. So, when I noticed that my Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf had flagged some recipes to try...and one was the assigned Chocolate Malt Cake...I asked if he wanted to help me. He did!

Malt Ball Tasting

But first, he wanted to make sure we were using the correct ingredients for the cake. So, we tracked down three different version of malt balls: an American favorite, a British version, and a bulk, no name malt ball from the grocery store.

We looked at texture and taste for all three versions.

And, interestingly enough, we didn't have a consensus between the four of us. Two - Jake and R - preferred the Whopper. While D and I vastly preferred the Maltesers. And no one liked the off-name ball because the chocolate to malt ratio was too high. We all liked the thinner shroud of chocolate around the malt ball. So, we ended up using both the Whoppers and the Malteasers in the cake.

Chocolate Malt Cake

This recipe is very slightly adapted from Floyd's recipe. We used olive oil in the cake instead of canola oil; and we used crème fraîche in the frosting instead of  heavy cream because that's what we had in the refrigerator and I didn't want to go back to the store that evening. Also, we increased the flour and decreased the cocoa powder and sugar.

Ingredients 

makes a two-layer 6-inch cake

Cake

• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons malted milk powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (we used a cocoa rouge)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 6 Tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 8 to 10 chocolate covered malt balls
• Also needed: two 6-inch cake pans, parchment paper

Malt Frosting and Topping

• 1/2 butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup malted milk powder
• 1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, melted
• 2 cups organic powdered sugar
• 2 Tablespoons crème fraîche
• more chocolate covered malt balls for garnish
• Also needed: waxed paper, serving platter

Procedure

Cake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter two six-inch baking pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Combine the malted milk powder, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla. Alternate by adding the flour mixture and milk a little bit at a time. Stir until everything is just moistened. Spoon the batter into the two prepared pans and place in the oven. Bake the cakes for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan before inverting them onto a wire rack and letting them cool completely.

Place chocolate covered malt balls in a plastic bag with a zip top. Seal the bag and crush the balls with a rolling pin. D left ours pretty chunky.

Malt Frosting

Combine the butter, vanilla, and malted milk powder in a large mixing bowl. Use a hand-mixer to beat the butter mixture until lightened and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and beat until smooth. Then add in the powdered sugar and crème fraîche. Beat the frosting until it is smooth and a spreadable consistency.

Assembly

Place one cake layer on a serving platter with wax paper tucked under each edge to keep the platter clean.

Spread about a third of the frosting on top of the cake layer and sprinkle in the crushed malt balls.

Place the second cake layer on top of the malt balls. Then spread the remaining frosting on the topand sides of the cake.

Remove the wax paper and refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Add more malt balls to the top of the cake before serving.

That's a wrap for the 2021 kick-off event for The Cake Slice Bakers. We'll be back next month with another set of recipes from our new book. Stay tuned...

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.