Chocolate Malt Cake #TheCakeSliceBakers

It's a new year, and that means a new cookbook for the Cake Slice Bakers! This month I chose this Chocolate Malt Cake, but the other choices were Lemon Rosemary Yogurt Loaf, and Oatmeal Applesauce Cake with Lemony Apple Topping (we actually had that one for breakfast a few days ago. Yummy too!) Check out the links at the end of the post to see what the other lovely bakers made!

Although 2021 has not so far proven to be much different than 2020, our new recipe book, Little Everyday Cakes, is a distinct change from our 2020 selection. Both books have recipes that come together easily, but this book contains no unusual or hard-to-find ingredients.

While I often described flavors from last year's bakes as "unexpected" or "sophisticated" with ingredients like halva, sage, and caramelized white chocolate... 

You won't find those in this book. 

This book takes you right back to your grandma's kitchen with familiar flavors, scaled down so that there are not leftovers. It turns out that miniaturizing cakes isn't always as easy as halving a recipe (1/2 egg, anybody?).  Author Candace Floyd tweaked and calibrated her favorite desserts to work as pint-size versions of the originals.

These cakes are not avant-garde or couture.

Most of the recipes are not showstoppers that you feel excessive making unless it is a very special occasion.  

In a word, they are accessible.

And comforting.

They use easy-to-find ingredients.

And they are small so that you don't hate yourself for making a dessert for the third time this week.

I have already made five of the recipes because they are so. darn. easy, and are a great way to celebrate an ordinary day just because.

In short, this is the perfect book for 2021.

I gussied up this Chocolate Malt Cake to serve on New Year's Day. I tossed Whoppers in baggies and shook to coat them with a small bit of silver and gold edible luster dust.  It was a super easy way to make it look a little more special--but totally not necessary.  A ring of plain Whoppers or even unadorned frosting would still look nice.

The cake itself was light enough to still be a cake, but tasted like a brownie.  Yum.

Because the world is still not much changed, I couldn't find regular malted milk powder.  So I used Ovaltine.  I LOVE my kitchen scale, and frequently use it to weigh ingredients in grams instead of using volume. In weighing the Ovaltine, it was clear that it was going to be MUCH more than 1 cup + 2 tablespoons.

Apparently, straight malted milk weighs more than Ovaltine.

Because the author is American, I figured I'd go by the volume measurement. I don't know if using malted milk would change the texture, but my Ovaltine version baked up wonderfully.  Like a beautiful brownie-cake hybrid.

The frosting was old-fashioned, fudgy, and very sweet.  I'm used to decorating with smooth buttercreams, and the more I messed with this one, the worse it looked. So just go rustic and don't worry about trying to make it smooth.

My husband thought it was one of the best cakes I've made out of my Cake Slice Bakers' selections.  I'm quite excited about discovering other every day gems among these little cakes.

Here's to 2021 and celebrating just because :)

Chocolate Malt Cake

from Little Everyday Cakes by Candace Floyd

Cake:

1 cup plus 2 T malted milk powder (I used Ovaltine)

1 cup minus 1 T flour

6 T cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs, at room temperature

3/4 sugar

6 T canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup room temperature whole milk

8-10 chocolate covered malt balls (like Whoppers)

Chocolate Malt Frosting

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup malted milk powder (again I used Ovaltine)

1/4 cup melted and slightly cooled bittersweet chocolate chip

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups powdered sugar

2 T heavy cream

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and line with parchment paper two 6" round pans. Dust the pans with a little extra cocoa.

2. Mix the malted milk powder, flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, oil and vanilla.  Add the flour mix a little at a time, alternating with the milk--starting and finishing with flour. Stir until just combined and distribute the batter evenly between pans.

4. Bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly from the center of the cake.

Put the pans on a wire rack, cool for 10 minutes, and remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Put the malt balls in a baggie and crush lightly with a heavy object.

6. Make the frosting by beating the butter, vanilla, and malted milk powder on medium high speed until smooth.  Add the salt and melted chocolate, and beat until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and heavy cream, beating until smooth and spreadable.

Assembly:

Place one cake layer on a plate or stand. Spread 1/3 of the frosting on top, going all the way to the edges. Sprinkle the malted milk balls on top of the frosting, then add the second layer. Spread the remaining frosting on the top and sides of the cake.

Enjoy :)

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Little Everyday Cakes by Candace Floyd. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

It is a new year and a new book - Little Everyday Cakes - and our choices for January 2021 were ~ 

Lemon-Rosemary Yogurt Loaf

• All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Camille Cooks
• Margaret's Yummies

Chocolate Malt Cake

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• My Recipe Reviews
• A Little Bit of All Right
• Amandie Bakes
• Making Miracles
• Sweet Sensations

Oatmeal-Applesauce Cake with Lemony Apple Topping

• Karen's Kitchen Stories