Chocolate Malteser Cake

Chocolate Milo cake



I made this cake for work some time ago. It is from Feast and is Nigella's Chocolate Malteser cake. I decided not to use Horlicks and used Milo instead, and thought it turned out pretty well anyway.

Here it is with my message made by melting chocolate in a little zip lock bag and snipping off the edge and writing on some grease proof paper:

I would have to say that this is one of the easiests cakes I have ever made and they looked pretty perfect when they came out. The kiddies loved this cake when I made it the second time with just the maltesers so it will no doubt become a standard.

Here goes:

150g soft light brown sugar
100 g caster sugar
3 eggs
175ml milk
15g butter
2 tablespoons Milo (or Horlicks)
175g plain flour
25g cocoa, sieved
1 teasp baking powder
1/2 teasp bicarb soda

Sweet stuff for the middle and the top:
25o g icing sugar
1 teasp cocoa
45g Milo
125g soft unsalted butter
2 tbsp boiling water
80 g Maltesers

Preheat ovn to 170c. Butter and lline two 20cm loose bottomed sandwich tins ( i didn't use loose bottomed pans and I thought it turned out well)

Weight out dry ingredients. Heat the milk, butter and milo in a saucepan until the butter melts, and it hot but not boiling. Whisk together the sugars and eggs till light and frothy, beat in the hot Milo mixture and then fold in the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarb of soda. Divide the cake batter evenly between the two tins and bake in the oven for 25 mins, by which timethe cakes should have risen and will spring back when pressed gently. Let them cool on a rack for about 5-10 mins then turn out of their tins.

In a food processor, add the icing sugar, cocoa and milo, blitz then add the boiling water until you have a smooth buttercream. Sandwich the cold sponges with half the buttercream, then ice the top with what is left, creating a swirly to rather than a smooth surface. Stud the outside with maltesers.