Weather: 33, heavy snowfall (imagine that!), not sticking
What I’m listening to: the kids watching the movie Hop
Easter stirs up memories of chocolate malted eggs sitting in a colorful basket atop Easter grass. As much as I love a tall, cold chocolate malted milkshake, I’ve never been a huge fan of the candy. I’d much rather have a slice of this moist, rich Chocolate Cake with Malted Chocolate Buttercream frosting, a grown up nod to the nostalgic childhood favorite. Grab a glass of milk and you’ll be in chocolate malted heaven.
I admitted to you when I made Key Lime Cake last month that cake-decorating is brand new to me (thank you for all the encouraging comments that helped spur me on to try more cakes). The only way to learn is to practice, so I took on this pretty, flowery petal technique on this one. The petals gave the double-chocolate treat a little bit of springtime whimsy.
Chocolate Cake with Malted Chocolate Buttercream
Frosting recipe adapted from [My Baking Addiction|http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/chocolate-malt-cupcakes/]
Yields: 1 two-layer 9 inch round cake
- For the Chocolate Cake:
- 2c sugar
- 1-3/4c flour
- 3/4c unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1-1/2t baking powder
- 1-1/2t baking soda
- 1t salt
- 2 eggs
- 1c milk
- 2t vanilla
- 1/2c butter, melted
- 1c hot brewed coffee
- For the Malted Chocolate Buttercream:
- 1c butter, softened
- 1t vanilla
- 1/3c malt powder
- 1/3c unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2-1/4c powdered sugar
- 2-3T half-and-half cream
!For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two nine inch round pans.
In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, butter and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Stir in the hot coffee last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake is done through. Cool in the pans on a cooling rack, then turn cakes out of pan. Frost with Malted Chocolate Buttercream.
!For the Buttercream:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and vanilla on medium speed until creamy.
In a large bowl, sift together the malt powder, cocoa powder and powdered sugar.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter and mix at low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Once all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated, add in 2 tablespoons of cream. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat the buttercream for about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. If you want your frosting a little thinner, gradually add in more cream, 1 teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
