Chocolate Malt Cake

Way back in October, my dear husband had a birthday. Each year I get a little too excited about making him a birthday cake. I want it to be AMAZING. I want it to look fancy and taste delicious. While I didn’t have the time to make the cake as fancy as I’d have liked (who knew a 2 1/2 month old baby could be so needy?), the taste was just incredible- chocolatey goodness at its best. It’s a good idea to have a lot of friends around when you make such a cake. It is just so incredibly rich that one thin slice really goes a long way.

Unfortunately, by the time we were ready to dive into this delicious cake on that birthday evening long ago, our baby was sooooooo ready to sleep. He did NOT want to wait patiently for me to take some decent pictures  and truly enjoy the cake experience. We rushed through picture taking and I hurried off to get our baby to sleep while Greg enjoyed cake with our guests. So even though these pictures are nothing to brag about, the cake itself truly is! And that’s what matters anyway, right?

Helpful tips for when you try this cake: For some reason I ended up with barely enough icing and far too much ganache. Next time I make this, I will possibly make more icing (or more conservatively ice between the layers) and cut the ganache in half.

Also, if you’ve never cut a cake into two layers before, don’t be afraid! I just watched a few youtube videos like this one and then went for it! Turns out, creating layers is a piece of cake. (Sorry, just couldn’t resist).

Chocolate Malt Cake

from Favorite Family Recipes

2 1/4 c. flour
1 1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
1 c. malted milk powder (can be found by the instant breakfasts)
1 c. vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 c. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Malt icing (see recipe below)
Chocolate ganache (see recipe below)
Malted milk balls (Whoppers)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter & flour 2, 9-inch baking pans. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a small bowl, combine milk and malted milk powder and stir to dissolve. Add milk mixture, oil, and eggs to flour mixture, beating at a medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla, beating just until combined.
Pour batter evenly into prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and let cool completely on racks. Slice each cake into two layers. Frost cakes and pour on the ganache. Place the entire cake in the refrigerator and let cool for at least an hour. Garnish with malted milk balls.

Chocolate Malt Icing:

1 1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
3/4 c. malted milk powder
7 1/2 c. powdered sugar

In a large bowl, beat butter and cocoa powder at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. In a small bowl, combine cream and malted milk powder, stirring to dissolve. Add cream mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed to combine. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth.

Chocolate Ganache:

16 oz. bittersweet (or semi-sweet) chocolate (we used chocolate chips)
2 c. heavy whipping cream

Place the chopped chocolate into a medium-sized bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a microwavable container and microwave for 3 to 4 minutes on high, or until it just begins to simmer; be careful not to allow cream to boil over. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds. Using an electric mixer, beat on low until chocolate mixture is smooth. Use as is for glazing.

Invite friends and family over and share the joy.