Malt Chocolate Marshmallow Cake

You might have noticed that I have been pretty keen on roast marshmallows and smores just recently, and that would definitely be true! I’ve been to Canada twice this year and the North American influence has not yet worn off on me!

I saw on Sweetapolita’s blog some amazing cupcakes which were called “campfire cupcakes”. They had a dark chocolatey cake, a roasted marshmallow filling, and dark chocolate malt buttercream. The roasted marshmallow filling might just be the most amazing cake ingredient ever. I also saw that she had made a six layer cake with the same components.

I made the campfire cupcakes and they were very tasty, but I thought that the ingredients were the wrong way round. The roasted marshmallow buttercream was something I wanted to eat out of the bowl with a spoon, but it was overpowered by the Belgian chocolate malted buttercream which Sweetapolita suggested. I wondered if a more malty, less chocolatey version might be a better compliment.

This weekend I’ve had a chance to try my own version of this combo for a friend’s housewarming. The Malt Chocolate Marshmallow Cake.

The recipe I have given below will make a four layer 23 cm Malt Chocolate Marshmallow Cake. I also have an idea on how to make a cupcake twist on this recipe, but I will leave that for another day!

Malt Chocolate Marshmallow Cake

ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake:

1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup strong black coffee, hot
125g butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Roasted Marshmallow Buttercream:

20 large white marshmallows
1 cup icing sugar
250g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 jar (about 100g) Marshmallow Fluff (if you are Downunder, Jet Puff marshmallow creme can be found at American food stores online)

For the Milk Chocolate Malt Buttercream:

250g unsalted butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp Ovaltine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
80 g milk chocolate, such as Lindt, melted and cooled
1/4 cup cream

mixing

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Line the bottom and sides of two 23cm cake pans with bake paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, milk, coffee, melted butter and vanilla.

Beat all the ingredients for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat on high for a further minute (the batter will be very thin).

Divide the batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. If you are baking both cakes at the same time, you might need to rotate them after 20 minutes to ensure even cooking. Cool the cakes (in the pans) until completely cold. Peel off the baking paper.

For the Roasted Marshmallow Buttercream, place the marshmallows on a baking sheet lined with bake paper. Heat your ovens grill until very hot and grill marshmallows until nice and brown on top, keeping an eye on them the entire time so they don’t burn. Remove pan from oven and gently turn the marshmallows over, and grill until the other side is golden brown. Grill tops, bottoms and two sides of the marshmallows. Note that the grill time reduces considerably as the marshmallows heat up, so watch them like a hawk on the third and fourth grilling.

Beat the butter and icing sugar on low speed until blended together, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract and increase the speed to high; beat for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer, add the Marshmallow Fluff and toasted marshmallows, and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

For the Milk Chocolate Malt Buttercream, beat the butter and icing sugar on low speed until blended together, about 1 minute. Add the Ovaltine, vanilla and salt, and beat on medium speed until well combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the melted milk chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream gradually and beat on high speed for another minute.

assembling

Slice each cake layer in half horizontally so you have four cake layers. Place your first layer face-up on a cake plate and cover with one-third of the Milk Chococlate Malt Buttercream. Place another cake layer face-up and cover with half of the Roasted Marshmallow Buttercream.

Place the tired layer of cake on top and cover with another third of the of Milk Chococlate Malt Buttercream. Place the final layer of cake, cut side down on top.

Coat the sides of the cake liberally with three quarters of the remaining Milk Chococlate Malt Buttercream, reserving the rest to decorate the top of the cake. Frost the top of the cake with the remaining Roasted Marshmallow Buttercream, and pipe small rosettes of the Milk Chococlate Malt Buttercream around the edge.

Decorate with sprinkles of your choice. I used Vahlrona chocolate balls and mini chocolate coated rice crispies. Press chocolate flakes around the sides of the cake, and garnish with chocolate curls for extra drama.

enjoy xxx