A luscious chocolate cake, spiked with malted drink mix and a delicious buttercream…
We are fast approaching the last ten days of Ramadan, SubhanAllah… I can’t fathom how fast the month is flying. It is always the case during this month. May Allah make us reach the final ten days of Ramadan, and let us observe Lailatul Qadr, in the best way possible… After all, it is the night worth more than 1000 months (Surah Al Qadr), which is huge! Sharing a beautiful Hadith regarding this night:
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Whoever fasted the month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith (i.e. belief) and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his past sins will be forgiven, and whoever stood for the prayers in the night of Qadr out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven .” (Sahih Al Bukhari:2014)
Are there times when you crave for sweets during Ramadan? Usually my sweet cravings during the month of Ramadan is limited to a dosage of custard and jelly once or twice a month. But this time, I had this very strong craving to have chocolate cake, and I took that chance to bake a cake that I had bookmarked for a really long time. It is a moist chocolate cake but with a dose of malted drink powder like Horlicks, Ovaltine, or the likes. I learned a fact that the origin of this cake is from Nandos in Pakistan, which serves a chocolate malt cake in their dessert range. They don’t have it here.
Horlicks is something I always have in my fridge. It is my guilt pleasure. So when I had an Iftar at my brother’s place, I baked and took it along. We ate the whole cake over two days, since it is a little heavy yet so fulfilling, Alhamdulillah. One word of warning though – don’t expect it to have a heavy malty taste, it just has a small edge to it. However the cake is quite moist. Please keep your slice out for it to cool and the buttercream to be a little melty, that is when it tastes the best. Off to the recipe…
Chocolate Malt Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cococa powder
- 1/3 cup malted milk powder Horlicks, Ovaltine, etc.
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs large, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup buttermilk refer notes
- 2/3 cup boiling water
- 1 tbsp instant coffee powder
FOR FROSTING
- 120 GM butter softened
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup malted milk powder
- A pinch of salt
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 - 2 tbsp cream or milk
- Chocolate for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and set aside 2 x 9 inch baking pans.
- In a big bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add in the sugar and give it a good whisk.
- Make a hole in the center. Crack in the eggs and add in the oil, buttermilk and vanilla extract.
- With an egg beater, on a low speed setting, beat till the batter is combined.
- Melt the coffee into the hot water and pour into the batter. Just beat till combined. The batter will be runny.
- Divide equally into both the pans and bake for 20-30 minutes till the center comes out clean.
- For making the buttercream, beat the butter till soft.
- Add in the cocoa and malted milk powders along with the vanilla and salt and beat.
- Now add in the icing sugar and beat in slowly till it combines. Add in the cream or milk to loosen the icing.
- Refrigerate the icing till use.
- Once the cakes are baked, flip them onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.
- Ice the cake as per your liking. I spread a thin layer in between both the cakes, did a thick layer on top and used the remaining to cover the sides.
- Top with pieces of chocolate and enjoy.
Notes