It’s Friday! And it’s still raining, so I think we need something to brighten our day and take our minds off the dreary weather that has filled our week. And I’m thinking comfort food, so I have decided to share the Chocolate Malteser Cake that I made for my son’s 16th birthday. If you remember, he’s the Chocolate on Chocolate on Chocolate lover, and every year since he decided he was too old for character cakes I have to come up with a cake that meets his criteria. By the time he hits 21 I should well and truly have mastered the art of Chocolate Cakes. I can’t complain really, who doesn’t like chocolate? Next time I think I will go for a dark chocolate ganache rather than this icing, not because it needs to be richer, but because it would look prettier. I loved that this cake was so moist, but be warned, you don’t want to attempt a second slice, your waist line will never forgive you.
Chocolate Malteser Cake
(Adapted from Valerie Barrett’s Cakes Galore and Nigella Lawson’s Feast)
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
225g Butter
225g Castor Sugar
80g Malted Milk Powder
50g Cocoa Powder
4 Eggs
200g Self-Raising Flour
4 Tbl Milk
For the Icing:
250g Icing Sugar
1 tsp Cocoa Powder
45g Malted Milk Powder
125g Softened Butter
2 Tbl Boiling Water
1 Packet Maltesers, halved
Directions:
To make the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease and line two 20cm round cake tins.
Cream the butter and sugar until blended.
Add the malted milk powder, cocoa powder, eggs, flour and milk, and beat together until smooth and creamy.
Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins, and bake for about 30mins, or until well risen and firm to the touch.
Cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the Icing:
Blend the boiling water, malted milk powder and cocoa powder together in a bowl, then set aside to cool.
In a separate bowl, beat the butter and half of the powdered sugar together until creamy, then add the remaining powdered sugar and the cocoa mixture until well blended.
Sandwich the two cakes together with half of the icing, then spread the remaining icing over the top.
Decorate with Maltesers around the sides of the cake.
Notes: There’s a trick to halving those Maltesers, and NO! you don’t bite them in half, thought it is very tempting. Take a sharp knife (not serated), line it up blade side down of course, on top of the malteser and carefully and skilfully whack the knife with the palm of your hand so the blade goes through the malteser cleanly and in one smooth motion. If you try cutting them slowly they will disintegrate. Please be very careful, we don’t want any accidents with that knife.
I found this recipe at http://ovenhaven.wordpress.com
