For Marisa’s birthday dinner, I decided to go above and beyond with the cake. I threw out a few flavor ideas for her to select from, and she chose chocolate malt cake. I was up to the challenge.
Malted marshmallow cream is sandwiched between two layers of chocolate malt cake. The whole thing is topped off with a whipped chocolate malt buttercream for a chocolatey, malted milk dessert. Just think of this cake as a very tender, moist and rich malted milk ball.
Assembling the cake was difficult. I just wanted to bathe in the marshmallow cream. And then I wanted to keep eating the crumbs of the cake, allowing each piece to melt in my mouth when it crumbled off the cake.
And the frosting? Creamy, buttery, chock-full-of-chocolate. Enough said.
Fair warning: You will have lots of leftover marshmallow cream. Making this amount makes sense though, since the cake calls for 3 egg yolks and the cream calls for 3 egg whites. Use the extra marshmallow cream for another cake. Or as an ice cream topping. Or on top of brownies. Or just eat it with a spoon.
Marshmallow Cream adapated from Food.com
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup low-fat milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup malted milk powder
- 3 egg whites
- 3/4 c light corn syrup
- 3/4 c maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 c powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 c malted milk powder
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup malted milk powder
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and grease and flour a 9x13" baking pan or two 9" round cake pans.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix the water, oil, butter, cocoa powder and chocolate. Cook, stirring often, until the butter and chocolate are completely melted and everything is well-mixed.
- Pour the chocolate over the flour and stir.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment or a hand mixer, beat the egg yolks, milk and vanilla. While the mixer is running on low, slowly pour in the chocolate. Add the malted milk powder and beat until everything is well-incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake for 20-25 minutes at 325F, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a wire rack and refrigerate overnight.
- While the cake bakes, make the marshmallow cream. In a stand mixer, whip together the egg whites, corn syrup, maple syrup and salt until thick, about 10 minutes.
- Beat in the sugar one-quarter cup at a time.
- Savvy Tip: If you try to add all the sugar at once, it will puff up into a cloud of sugar rather than mixing into the egg whites.
- Beat in the vanilla and malted milk powder. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
- Beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, one-third cup at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the malted milk powder and cocoa powder. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
- If you used a 9x13" pan, cut the cake evenly in half. Each half will be one layer of the assembled cake.
- Center one half of the cake (or one of the 9" round cakes) on a serving platter or cake plate. Beat the marshmallow cream to thicken it back up, then drop it by the spoonful on top of the cake and use a knife to create a smooth, relatively thick layer. Top with the other half of the cake and drop a thin layer of marshmallow cream on top. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
- Beat the frosting with a wire whisk a few times to loosen and heat it up. Spread the frosting over the top of the cake, then frost the sides. Add some sprinkles (optional) and serve.
Oh my goodness… DIVINE!
Um, yeah. I’m a huge fan!
Um, yum to the max.
As if the picture wasn’t torturous enough your description is making me drool at my desk! Looks sooo good!
that marshmallow cream is killing me! so delicious
You made your own marshmallow cream? That’s amazing…and I bet you were tempted to bathe in it, it looks perfect
Yes, it was surprisingly easy once I figured out the ratio of ingredients!
Ooooh, I need to try this…soon. I’m drooling over the pics!
Do it. It is totally worth the extra bit of time it takes to make!
Holy goodness…. This looks incredible, Julie!
This looks really yummy! My birthday is Saturday so my coworker is baking me a cake tomorrow – I also wanted malt chocolate! She’s making a yellow cake with chocolate malt frosting
Mmmm, chocolate malt frosting
I’ll re-post the recipe for you on Saturday (I have to do some sort of birthday post!)
This cake looks so amazing, I’d like to stick a fork through the screen. Perfect birthday cake for your friend!
what is malt powder?
It is kind of like the inside of a Whopper or malted milk ball.
This is what I use: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/malted-milk-powder-16-oz
Oh this is some serious food porn! lol. Next time someone asks me to bring cake to an event, this is going to be it! I didn’t even know you could make your own marshmallow cream. Genius!
I didn’t either, until I started experimenting for this cake
Oh my gosh! Okay, I’ll organize the Finger Lakes wine tour if you promise to bring that cake!
This sounds so delicious. I love the idea of the malt with the marshmallow. Putting this in my “need to make” pile! Found you from Tasty Kitchen (but I think I’ve seen you at my cousin Heather’s blog (THS)!
Aimee
is malt powder hard to find?? or can you use ovaltine?
I used this malt powder: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/malted-milk-powder-16-oz
You can probably use ovaltine, but I don’t know how sugar-y that is. If it has a lot of added sugar, adjust the recipe accordingly