Malteser cake: The revenge!

A while ago I tried out a Malteser cake. It was a mixed success:

• Decoration - epically good
• Taste - not quite the malty party in your pants I was after, more like a mingle in your mouth

I can't quite remember how a Malteser cake came up in conversation at work, but it did. Never one to shirk an opportunity to right a cakey-wrong, it meant this weekend the time was ripe to give it another go. 

 

It's fair to say it's not quite such a looker as the previous attempt (do you realise white Maltesers are about as rare as hens teeth?), but in terms of taste I think this is one of those occasions where there's a meme for that:

The flavour profile was everything I had hoped for: deeply malty with a really long finish. The perfect accompaniment to chocolate. I put it down to using malt extract (available from Holland & Barrett) rather than Ovaltine and in particular substituting some of the sugar to reduce the sweetness. This did mean the cakes were more delicate and needed a slightly longer bake, but that shouldn't be any cause for concern. Anyway you'll soon see what I mean >when you try this recipe yourself.

Malteser cake 

Ingredients:

For the sponge:
8oz butter
5oz Muscavado sugar
2oz caster sugar
4tbsp malt extract

4 eggs
7oz plain flour, sifted
1oz cocoa, sifted
2tsp baking powder

For the filling:
60g white chocolate50ml double cream
15g butter aka a small nob 

For the frosting (this will make plenty to cover the top and side):
8oz butter
150g icing sugar (approximately)
1.5tbsp malt extract

1tsp vanilla extract

Decorate with as many Maltesers as you dare (I used 6 packs)

Method:
1. Make the sponge in the usual way by creaming the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs and the malt extract. Fold in the sifted flour, baking powder and cocoa.
2. Divide the batter between two 8" pans and bake for about 20-25mins at 180°C (or until the top springs back to the touch, the sides are coming away from the tin and a skewer comes out clean from the middle).
3. While the cakes are baking and cooling make the ganache and frosting.

4. For the ganache, melt the white chocolate and cream together in a bain marie. Once melted, take off the heat, add the butter and stir to mix together. Allow to cool..
5. To make the frosting, beat the butter and sugar together until soft. Add the vanilla extract and malt extract and beat together. Add more sugar, if required, to suit your tastes.
6. Once the cakes have cooled, sandwich togther using the white chocolate gnache.

7. Cover the cake in a thin layer of icing (the crumb layer) and refrigerate to set.
8. Once set, use the remaining frosting to ice the cake liberally.
9. Decorate with as many Maltesers as you want.