Sunday 6 June 2010

Malteser Layer Cake



I've been wanting to make a Malteser cake for ages. I'm not entirely sure why it has been on my mind - but I'm glad it was as this cake is a little bit awesome.

Malt is one of those flavours I was never entirely sure I liked, but I've finally been convinced. The cake batter tasted fantastic, and I even had Horlicks in a cup of hot milk to help me sleep the other night.



While contemplating this cake, I thought about making Nigella's recipe for Chocolate Malteser Cake from her book 'Feast'. I decided against it because I wanted to have a pale cake to match the inside of the Maltesers and to showcase the malted flavour without the chocolate getting in the way. I didn't want the malted flavour to be very strong, but I wanted it to be just noticeable and not fade into just another chocolate cake.


I decided that the best recipe to adapt would be our family favourite Chocolate Birthday Cake, as it uses hot chocolate powder and I thought the Horlicks would work best in a similar recipe. The milk and boiling water added at the end seems to sort of activate the flavour in both of them.



Although Maltesers are really about milk chocolate, I decided to make a dark chocolate ganache to ice the cake as I didn't want it to be too sweet. I also made it in my lovely little 5" tin, so I could get height without making a massive cake. I found that the crispy centres of the Maltesers will go soft and sort of disappear overnight as the moisture gets to them, so try and eat it the day you make it if you want the texture contrast.

I was very pleased with this - the malted taste was subtle but there, the dark ganache complemented the sweet light cake and the crispy Maltesers. Each bite had a lovely balance to it.


NOTE: This cake recipe won the Maltesers Recipe Competition!


Malteser Layer Cake

For the cakes:
130g room temperature butter
130g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
130g self raising flour
70g Horlicks
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp boiling water

Note: As I wanted a tall cake, I used a 5" tin. I only had one so I made a half batch of the above, baked it, and then repeated the process. If you want to use normal 7-8" sandwich tins, just make the above and split between the two tins as usual (it'll make a shorter cake than the one in the pictures but will taste the same).

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter and line the bottom of the tin(s). Cream the softened butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add an egg, beat in, then add the other and beat again. Sieve the flour, Horlicks and baking powder into the bowl and then fold in until nearly combined. Add the milk and fold again, then finally add the boiling water. Quickly spoon into the tin(s) and put in the oven. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until deep gold and a skewer comes out clean.

For the ganache:
150g dark chocolate
150 ml double cream

Break the chocolate up into small pieces and put into a bowl. Heat the cream until it starts to steam then pour over the chocolate. Leave for a few minutes and then stir in until you have a smooth, glossy ganache.

To assemble:
2 packets of maltesers

Split the cakes carefully into two. Sandwich them with some of the ganache, then cover with a crumb coat (a thin layer of icing to trap the crumbs and make it easier to ice). Put it the fridge to set slightly. While it is cooling, chop the maltesers - I found using a sharp knife in a quick decisive motion worked best. Remove the cake from the fridge and use the remaining ganache to cover the cake. Starting from the top, arrange the maltesers in the desired pattern, then go down the sides, being careful when placing the pale-side-out halves. Put in the fridge for ten minutes or so, then serve. Best eaten on the day, due to the malteser insides getting damp and disintegrating!


Three more chocolate recipes:
Salted Caramel Brownies
Two Ingredient Chocolate Mousse
Super Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls


51 comments:

  1. YUM!! Cake and chocolate candy all in one!! Looks delicious!
    Would you mind checking out my blog? :D http://ajscookingsecrets.blogspot.com/

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  2. That is GORGEOUS! Love the way you decorated it. The malt flavour in the cake sounds like it would work really well :)

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  3. Sounds yum!

    Teny tiny criticism? I was aching for a shot of the inside of the cake to see the cake colours and the layers.

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  4. Ellemay - Oh I'm sorry I left you unsatisfied! I'm afraid I got a bit distracted at the end and didn't take a good photo of the inside...here's a clearer one of a slice with the layers:

    http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz242/poiresauchocolat/Picture17-5.png

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  5. I've never had a malt cake, but yours is making me feel like I've been missing out! This may be a perfect cake for my mom as she loves Whoppers, malted milk candy.

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  6. This looks great. I can imagine that the texture contrast is the best thing. I'll have no problem eating this before it goes soft!

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  7. Just a little bit amazing? Looks totally amazing to me, I'd love a huge slice right now with a nice cuppa ;0)

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  8. I am not a cake or dessert baker at all but I felt utterly and thoroughly compelled to make this because A, your photographs and descriptions are so, so beautiful and enticing and B, it includes two of my and my boyfriend's favourite things in the world: maltesers and malt drinks!

    I will thank you forever for "making" me make this. It was wonderful and thank you for keeping such a completely wonderful blog. Your love of what you're doing is contagious.

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  9. Where did you get your 5" cake tin from? I'd love to get one. The cake looks amazing, I the cut in half maltesers produce a brilliant effect. Have you thought of making it with Milo? After all Milo is the ultimate chocolate malt drink.

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  10. rosemarycake: it's an Alan Silverwood tin, I bought it from amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000EF80W6/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A2VG795I6WBM57

    I have the 6" one too - they're great.

    As for Milo, I hadn't heard of it! I'll have a look out for it - maybe you should try it?

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  11. emma that looks amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can you make it with me ????? please

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  12. WOW It looks awesome with great flavours...
    love your site amazinglly I have the same blog list and this blog too in my google reader.

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  13. Fantastic! I came online to look for a cake receipe to make for my friend's birthday party tonight and came across your blog. This is perfect for her!

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  14. I know I'm a little late on the bandwagon but I made this one on the weekend!

    I altered the recipe a little - well actually I baked it twice. The first time I tried to use Milo but the consistency and taste was a little off. The second time I increased the quantity of the butter and then I used 20g of hot chocolate powder and added 1tsp of ground cinnamon. Yummm! I struggled with the ganache a little - I used a bit too much cream, but worked out beautifully in the end.

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  15. what type of cream do you use? whipping cream?

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  16. Anon- I usually use double cream but whipping cream should be ok if that's what you've got

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  17. I'm going to make this for my daughter's birthday (4th May) but just reading through the recipe and have a question. You say 'cover with a crumb coat'. What does that mean (never heard the term before.
    Thanks so much,

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  18. Sally - How exciting, I hope she likes it. A crumb coat is just a thin layer of icing put on the cake before you ice properly to catch all the crumbs and create a good base to work on. As I said, pop it in the fridge to firm up a bit so it doesn't mix with the icing proper too much. It helps you get a good smooth layer on top :)

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  19. Worked like a dream - I found chocolate Horlicks so I used that instead. Lovely recipe.

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  20. Saw this in the Kitchn and just had to click through. I haven't had Maltesers in a lonnnggg time and never in cake form - this is genius! Pretty too!

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  21. I love maltesers--what a delicious looking cake this is!

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  22. Bianca - so glad you like it. It's a favourite.

    chef_d - thank you! I love Maltesers too.

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  23. Baked this last week for a friend's birthday! Love it!!

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  24. Hey! I couldn't find a 5 inch tin, so I used a 6 inch one ... Will it make much difference?

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  25. Filoner - I'm so glad you loved it!

    i-heart-stuff - I imagine that you've already discovered if it made a difference - sorry for the late reply - but I guess that it would have been totally fine? Hope so!

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  26. Hey, when I made the cake with the exact same proportions, it did rise. But it was uncooked from the centre. I tried baking it for a few more mins. But to no avail. :(
    What went wrong?

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    1. Hi - sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. Was the oven fully preheated to 180C/350F when you put the cakes in the oven? Sometimes ovens can run on quite different temperatures from the ones they display - usually lower. If the oven temperature was right, I'm slightly at a loss - how many extra minutes did you bake it for? It's normally very reliable. Did you use the single mix above in a 5" tin or a double mixture split between two sandwich tins?

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    2. Hey, I made it again. And IT TURNED OUT PERFECT! :D
      I don't know what went wrong the first time though. But thank you. :)

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  27. I made this with Milo for a 14th birthday (I live in Australia) and it was GREAT. I found the recipe a bit too liquid so I left out some of the liquid - was this a mistake??? Also I found the ganache too runny as I made it with ordinary Aussie thick cream, so ended up adding some leftover chocolate icing to thicken it up a bit. I went 50/50 on mile and plain chocolate for the ganache which tasted wonderful. THANKS EMMA

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  28. poiresauchocolat9 January 2013 at 12:20

    I LOVE the fact that you attached photos to your comment. That is so awesome - I hadn't realised you could do that!


    The mixture is pretty liquid so you could definitely have added the full amount - it keeps the cake moist. Generally if you let a ganache cool it will thicken up quite a bit, so maybe that would have helped - but sounds like you sorted it out! So glad you enjoyed it.

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  29. Does this mixture make one 5" tin so you need two 5" tins for the cake and double the mixture or do you divide the mixture into two tins ? Looks gorgeous going to make one at weekend Thanks Lin

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  30. Fan of malteser cake4 February 2013 at 01:29

    Can you revise this recipe with US measurements and provide a substitute for caster sugar?

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  31. poiresauchocolat4 February 2013 at 09:32

    I'm afraid I don't work in cups - I am British and therefore have never used them. I also think that measuring by volume is not accurate enough for baking and will never produce consistent enough results. You could use normal granulated sugar in place of caster sugar in this recipe.

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  32. I did it! And it was great.!
    Thank you so much !

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  33. poiresauchocolat10 March 2013 at 12:35

    So pleased you enjoyed it :)

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  34. Boy does that look scrumptious. Thanks

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  35. Tried this recipe out on the weekend and it is amazing! Check out my attempt - http://phyllishomemade.weebly.com/the-gallery.html hope I have done your receipe proud x

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  36. poiresauchocolat17 June 2013 at 17:48

    So pleased you liked it :)


    Just one small thing - I'd appreciate it if you could acknowledge on your blog that it was made from my recipe. Thank you!

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  37. poiresauchocolat17 June 2013 at 17:48

    Glad you like it Julie!

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  38. just made this cake, turned out gorgeous !!

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  39. This is my version ::):):) everyone at the party loved it

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  40. poiresauchocolat20 August 2013 at 18:07

    Looks lovely! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

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  41. and thanks for the recipe !! followed it exactly to the tee and you cant go wrong with it :) its my new fave cake

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  42. Just lovely and an ideal birthday cake to make if you're not confident at icing...maltesers look fabulous as decoration and I think this one with it's half cut ones is a perfect twist. I have featured this lovely recipe on my blog post...Chocolate Indulgence http://www.stylemyparty.co.uk/blog/indulgent-chocolate-recipes/ please take a look and see what you think...it's standing proud! x

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  43. My cakes didn't rise :( And I was so careful! I did dilly-dally a little before putting the cakes in. Maybe the oven wasn't hot enough either. Such a shame because the taste is amazing! I'm not surprised it won a prize!

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  44. I'm glad you like it - it is an easy way to decorate.

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  45. Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that. Leaving the cakes out can definitely cause a low rise - most modern baking powder is double-action, which means that some of the powder reacts when it comes into contact with moisture (i.e. when you make it into a batter) and the rest when it comes into contact with heat (i.e. you put it into the oven). If you leave the cake around before baking then you lose the rise of the bit that reacts on contact with moisture. It is also always worth checking that your baking powder is active and in date - it does lose power, so try stirring a teaspoon into a mug of hot water - it should bubble and fizz enthusiastically. The oven could also be a cause - did it take longer to bake? Oven are often inaccurate - you can get a little oven thermometer which you put inside the oven to check. I'm glad it still tasted good though!

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  46. Just made this and it came out beautifully. It was really soft and fluffy! Thanks.

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  47. NEED THE MEASUREMENT FOR U.S.

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  48. what does13og stand for

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