Malt Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream

A sweet malt cake with white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. This tasty cake is the perfect cake for any palette. 

I've been running this blog for three years. Three. And this is the first time I've ever shared an Easter recipe. I don't know why it's taken me so long to make one. And I am sharing it a day before Easter.

Better late than never, right? Besides, this malt cake is worth it. I've been dreaming of making a malt-flavored cake for a while and this was the perfect time to make one.

The cake tastes like a tall glass of Ovaltine like what your mom gave you as a child. Instead of the obvious pairing of milk or dark chocolate which I think can easily overpower the taste of the malt, I decided to make a white chocolate frosting with a pinch of salt to keep it from being cloyingly sweet.

The end result is an incredibly moist cake and a silky smooth buttercream that I want to eat by the spoonful.

I love cutting a cake and immediately catching a whiff how good the buttery layers of heaven smell. It was so hard taking pictures of this cake from how delicious it smelled. Every time there was a crumb that fell, I immediately went for it.

Sweet and malty, but not like those malt candies you try and trade away when they make their way in you Halloween bag. It instead adds depth and a slight sweet nuttiness to the cake. It is so tasty paired with the silky frosting.

Recipe Card

Vanilla Malt Cake

Amanda Powell

A delicious malty cake that will impress everyone at Easter!

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Prep Time 55 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course Cake

Cuisine American

Servings 1 cake

Calories 487 kcal

US CustomaryMetric

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Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

For the Cake

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup malt powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup whole milk room temperature
• 1 recipe white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream recipe below
• Chocolate eggs optional

For the Frosting

• 150 ml roughly ⅔ cup egg whites
• 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups 4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 oz white chocolate melted and cooled
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• yellow gel food coloring optional

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Instructions

 

For the Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Grease and flour three 6-inch round baking pans.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, malt powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time. Once the last egg is added, beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
• Stir in the vanilla extract and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Add one-third of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, then stir in half the milk. Add in another third of the flour, then the remaining milk. Gently fold in the remaining flour mixture.
• Evenly divide the batter among the baking pans and bake until the bakes are a golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. , about 30 - 35 minutes. Do not check the cakes until about 20 - 25 minutes, as the cake does fall easily.
• Allow the cakes to cool for about 10 minutes in the pans, then transfer to wire racks. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Tightly wrap each cake in plastic wrap and store in the freezer while you make the buttercream.
• Trim the sides and level the cake as needed.
• Add (undyed frosting, if adding color) frosting between the layers of the cake and add a crumb coat (a thin layer of frosting all over the cake). Chill the cake until the frosting is stiff.
• Add frosting all around the cake and smooth. If adding color, add the colored frosting in random places over the cake and smooth down again. Decorate the cake with chocolate eggs, if using.

For the Frosting

• Add water to a small saucepan and heat on medium until the water is at a simmer.
• Place the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl and place over the saucepan, ensuring the water and steam does not go into the bowl.
• Constantly beat the egg whites and sugar until it is frothy and white. Continue to beat until the sugar has dissolved.
• Remove the bowl from the saucepan and beat the egg whites until they reach glossy peaks.
• Add the butter one tablespoon at a time, beating each tablespoon of butter into the meringue mixture before adding more butter. The mixture may start to separate. Keep beating and the mixture will come back together.
• Continue to beat the frosting while also pouring in the white chocolate in one single batch. Swiftly beat the white chocolate so it doesn't cool and harden into chips in the frosting.
• Add in the vanilla and salt and stir in until well combined.
• Separate a small portion of the frosting and add a few drops of coloring and mixing well

Notes

Recipe for the buttercream adapted from the Layered cookbook

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 487kcalCarbohydrates: 83gProtein: 9gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 349mgSugar: 70g

Keyword easter, malt, spring, vanilla

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