Chocolate Malteser Cake - Happy Birthday We Should Cocoa!

To celebrate the 1st Birthday of the We Should Cocoa bloggers challenge Chele at Chocolate Teapot challenged us to create a chocolate masterpiece to bring to the virtual party. I've been wanting to try a chocolate Malteser cake for ages and the girls in my office all asked demanded that I make this one after they spotted it in Woman and Home magazine. And, after all, it's a 1st birthday and let's face it such an occasion demands a chocolate cake of some description. I like the fact it requires buying a jar of Horlicks, thus necessitating me to have a cup at night without feeling too old before my time! I have to say that the plastic jars just aren't as nice as the old glass ones though. Talking of days gone by does anyone else remember Horlicks Tablets which I used to buy at Boots and eat as sweets?


So the cake - the Horlicks in the frosting definitely gives it a lovely Malteser taste - slightly salty against the sweet.  I didn't add the egg to the frosting as per the recipe as I'd run out. The cake itself is quite dense - I think it could have been slightly more chocolately.  The dense mixture also caused my poor Kenwood handmixer to go into a smoking meltdown. Who knew the flames inside would cause the plastic to actually glow yellow?! Needless to say it is has been consigned to the bin.  I was wondering what it would be like with the odd actual Maltester dotted in the batter rather than adding the Horlicks to the actual mixture?  All in all though it pretty much fits the bill and on that note - Happy 1st Birthday We Should Cocoa!


The Recipe


300g butter
300g light muscovado sugar (I ran out so used a mixture of light and dark)
5 eggs
225g self-raising flour
75g cocoa powder
3 tbspn Horlicks
200ml milk


Frosting


100g butter
125g dark chocolate (70%)
50g Horlicks
350g icing sugar
4 tbspns milk


1. Preheat the oven to 180c, gas mark 4.  Butter 2 x 20cm sandwich tins. 
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in the eggs one by one.  Then add the flour, cocoa, Horlicks and milk.  Divide between the sandwich tins. Bake for around 45 mins or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
3.  Leave the cakes to cool for about 10 mins in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack.
4. To make the frosting melt the butter, chocolate and Horlicks together in the microwave (the melted mixture has a slightly gritty texture due to the Horlicks).  Then beat in the icing sugar and milk.
5.  Assemble the cake using half the frosting for the middle and the remainder for the top of the cake. Decorate with maltesers.