Malteser Cake
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A two-layer chocolate malt sponge, with chocolate spread filling, malt buttercream frosting, maltesers, and more! Perfect Malteser cake!
So, I have had what feels like an INSANE amount of requests for this recipe. Like, I have genuinely lost count! I have always said so far to multiply up my Malteser Cupcakes recipe, which would also work, but I wanted to make this a whole new level of delicious.
I based this on my Chocolate Fudge Cake and some ideas from my Honeycomb Crunchie Cake as well. All in all, its definitely one of my new favourite recipes. It’s just basically insane. Every mouthful is delicious!
My No-Bake Chocolate Malteser Cheesecake and Cornflake & Malteser Rocky Road recipes have always been popular, but this is only my fourth malteser recipe. I feel like I have neglected Malteser’s slightly I won’t lie – but this cake will 100% make up for the lacking of recipes for sure.
I altered the Chocolate Fudge Cake to be slightly more fudgey, less coffee like, and put in some malt powder. I will say that even in my regular chocolate fudge cake, you can NOT taste the coffee – and this one lacks some of it so you are even less likely to taste the coffee, so do not worry.
This sponge is quite different to a regular chocolate Victoria sponge style chocolate cake, and there is a reason – it is chocolate fudge cake sponge like mentioned above. Because of all the other ingredients that have been added into the sponge – the buttermilk, the plain flour, the melted chocolate, the bicarbonate of soda etc… it creates something wonderful.
I do find it easier to decorate the cake when the sponges have been chilled – just because it is designed to be a delicate cake. You can use the cake from my Malteser Drip Cake for a firmer sponge if you prefer, or even just that recipe because it is also delicious!
The malt powder (or malt drink as you may understand it) is designed to make the cake taste slightly more Malteser like – and it is delicious. I used 75g to increase the flavour, and it is dreamy. Either way, it helps it create a nice sponge, and along with the spread and buttercream, you don’t need the sponge to be oh-so-malty.
In my mind, this cake was so much better with the Malteser spread in the middle because it gave it more flavour, more sweetness, and another element of Malteser heaven but it is of course optional. Sometimes the spread is quite hard to find, so literally any chocolate spread you like will work!
I wouldn’t blame anyone if it all accidentally fell into their mouth and none made it to the cake because you know, I might’ve had to have bought another jar as this happened to me… anyway. You can definitely leave it out if you don’t want the added extra element to the bake.
The malt buttercream is lovely and malty, making it less sweet than normal buttercream frosting, so it combats the other sweetness making it the perfect amount. You can use Ovaltine or Horlicks for this – but I tend to find any malt drink that is designed to mix with milk is best.
The cake is quite dense, but it makes it SO FUDGEY and delicious. My Taste Testers were super happy with this cake, and already want it again. I had my slice after photographing it, and now I wish I hadn’t give the rest of the cake away because I am craving more! Enjoy!
Malteser Cake!
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 225 g Dark Chocolate
- 225 g Unsalted Butter
- 2 tsp Coffee Granules
- 75 g Malt Powder (horlicks/ovaltine for milk)
- 175 g Plain Flour
- 25 g Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 200 g Caster Sugar
- 200 g Light Brown Sugar
- 4 Medium Eggs
- 75 ml Buttermilk
Buttercream Ingredients
- 250 g Unsalted Butter (room temp)
- 500 g Icing Sugar
- 50 g Malt Powder
- 2-4 tbsp Boiling Water
Decorations
- 200 g Chocolate Spread
- 200 g Maltesers
- Sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cake!
- Preheat your oven to 160ºc/140ºfan and grease & line two 8″/20cm Cake tins – leave to the side.
- In a small bowl, add the dark chocolate and unsalted butter and melt together until smooth. I do this in the microwave.
- Add the coffee granules and malt powder into a mug, and add 125ml boiling water and mix – then, add this to the chocolate/butter mix and stir well until smooth.
- In a separate large bowl add the plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, caster sugar, and light brown soft sugar and mix well so the ingredients are all mixed with each other well!
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk together until combined.
- Add the chocolate mixture and the egg mixture to the dry bowl, and stir with a spatula/whisk until smooth. You do not need an electric mixer for this.
- Pour the mixture into the two tins and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes. A skewer should come out clean, and the cake should be silent (if not fully baked, it’ll make a bubbly/crackling noise).
- Leave to cool fully in the tins.
For the Buttercream!
- In a large bowl, beat the room temperature unsalted butter on its own for a few minutes to loosen.
- Add the icing sugar and beat until smooth
- Add the malt powder, and beat again. If the buttercream is really thick, add 1tbsp of boiling water at a time to loosen ever so slightly.
For the Decoration!
- Spread the chocolate spread onto the bottom cake, and pipe on half of the buttercream.
- Add on the second sponge and pipe on the rest of the buttercream, and then decorate with some Maltesers and whatever else you fancy!
Notes
- I used the Horlicks powder for my Malt Powder that mixes with Milk, but you can also use ovaltine, or any other malt powder.
- If you can’t access the Buttermilk, you can make your own! Use the same quantity of full-fat milk, with 2tbsp lemon juice whisked in.
- This cake will last for 3 days in an airtight container!
ENJOY!
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J x
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I can’t find Malteser spread in my local supermarkets. Can I just use a different chocolate spread?
Yes!
Hi Jane!
This cake looks amazing! I’m planning on making it for my boyfriends birthday, do you think chocolate malt buttercream would work for this as well or would it be too much?
Thanks!
Lily
I personally find that if you add in chocolate as well, it doesn’t taste nearly as malt-y if that makes sense? So it’s up to you!
Hi Jane, i made this cake the other week and it was delicious. I was wondering could i make it into cupcakes and what the quantities would be?
I would halve the recipe for 12!
Hi Jane, I absolutely love this cake! I do have a question though… when I made it, my buttercream never came out as light in colour as yours… why do you think that is? I used normal Horlicks… thanks so much
It might be the butter you are using! The colour doesn’t matter so much though, as long as it tastes good! I just used Unsalted Butter from the supermarket (the type wrapped in foil) x
Thanks Jane, yeah, that’s what I use as well, oh well, like you say, as long as it tastes good 😊 xx
What type of dark chocolate would you recommend and what size are your tins?
Anything that is 70% or darker – supermarket own is absolutely fine! And the tins are mentioned in the first bit of the method.
Hello!
Do i have to use the coffee powder? Can i just use 2 extra spoonfuls of Horlicks instead?
Emily
I would advise using the coffee for the chocolate fudge taste – it doesn’t taste coffee like, it just really helps with the chocolate.
Ohhh okay got ya i was worried it would taste like coffee lol… I’ve only got granules is that okay? It’s not powdered?
As long as its dissolved in the water, it’ll be fine x
Oh great thank you, its turned out SO well!!! Pics to follow ☺ also how do i store it?
Just room temperature is fine! I use a cake box/tin, as its tall enough, and leave on the side! x
Wow, this looks amazing! I really want to try to make it, the bunnies make it look so cute.
Baked your malteser cake to celebrate the arrival of a new baby in the family! Was absolutely loved by all! The buttercream was especially loved!
hya wondered if i could use milk chocolate instead of dark ?
For the drip?
Also i dont have an electric mixer with a paddle attachment like it states in the recipe, i only have an electric mixer/whisk? Will this be okay to use? Want it to be perfect lol!
And for the buttercream that will be fine! You don’t need to use it for the actual cake.
Hi Jane
I love all of your recipes and have tried a few already!
I was planning on doing a giant cupcake cake in a moulded tin, and wondered whether this recipe would work for that? It’s normally a 6 egg recipe so if I amend the quantities and bake it for a bit longer do you think it would still come out Okay?
Thanks 🙂
Claire
I’m not too sure to be honest as the sponge in this one is quite delicate in a way, so might take toooo long to bake, but I’ve never tried it so im not sure. x
hi i am making this cake on sunday for a birthday on monday, would you recommend doing the icing on monday or sunday. thanks xox
also can i use normal milk instead of buttermilk
You can make it on Sunday and easily decorate the same day or Monday, it doesn’t matter at all. And you really should use buttermilk, but a homemade version is the same quantity of whole milk (full fat) with 2tbsp lemon juice. It’s important to use it as it helps bake the cake correctly. x
Hi, what type of piping nozzle did you use for this cake?
2d closed star probably! x
Hi! Super excited to (attempt to..) make this cake for Easter. I wandered whether it had to be unsalted butter or whether Stork could be used instead? Thanks! X
Stork can be used in the sponge, but unsalted butter MUST be used in the Buttercream! Stork doesn’t work for Buttercream at all! Xx
Hi it’s seems so delicious and pretty. I would to ask you about Malt Powder what is it? And what’s the replacement? Thank you so much.
Malt Powder makes a Malt drink, kind of like Hot Chocolate (but slightly different). Are you from somewhere out of the UK? It might be worth googling an alternative from your country.
Hi, for this cake i don’t hahe malted powder, so please if u can tell me by what i can replace it in the cake and the creme preparation