Malted Chocolate Cake (Egg Free)

Malted Chocolate Cake; a luscious, moist, fluffy and fudgy eggless one-bowl chocolate cake with whole wheat flour, the subtle flavors of malted milk powder and a creamy, satiny malted chocolate ganache! Bake this one up for your next special occasion or just like that!

Today is my younger daughter-in law’s birthday and I had to make something special and divine to celebrate this day! A few months back, I had made Mock Oreo Tiramisu Parfait for my elder daughter-in-law’s birthday and  Mini Heart-Shaped Chocolate Bites for my younger son’s birthday; although they live far away from us (and I so wish they could share it with us), we still love to celebrate it in our own way!

I have followed the same recipe as my chocolate beetroot cake (of course without the beets and used just water instead of milk)  but decided to substitute some of the whole wheat flour with malted milk powder, in this case Horlicks drink mix available in any grocery store.

Malted milk powder has natural sweeteners made from barley malt, wheat, and milk and is used mostly to make hot or cold drinks or even malted milk shakes!   I always have a bottle of this in my pantry and as this drink mix has added sugar in it and as I was going to frost it with a luscious chocolate ganache, I reduced the amount of sugar.

Just mix the dry ingredients (whole wheat flour, sugar, malt milk mix, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt) well. To this add the wet ingredients; oil, water, vanilla and vinegar. Give it a cook mix and bake for 25 to 35 minutes (depending upon each oven) until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For the frosting, I have used my favorite kind of frosting, a chocolate ganache! Just heat cream on low heat with a few tablespoons of malt drink mix (to infuse more of the malt flavor in the frosting too) and pour over chopped dark chocolate (you can use milk, white or a mix of dark and milk; your choice). Let cool a bit and pour over the cooled cake letting it drizzle on the sides or cover it fully. I love the drizzled look that ganache creates!

 

Allow it to set and serve this luscious cake at room temperature or best chilled!

I am a big fan of the cool, fudgy, chocolaty flavor of chilled ganache topped cake! As I had covered only the top of the cake, I had some leftover ganache which I spooned up and snacked on all day! I know, calories and all that, but with a fudgy ganache transporting me to chocolate heaven, I decided not to think too much!

If you are more adventurous, split the cake into two thin layers and fill with ganache in between too! Top the frosted cake with your choice of sprinkles, chocolate chips, nuts etc. or leave it plain! Any which way, you and your family is sure to love this easy, eggless one-bowl malt chocolate cake!

 Step-by-step method to make Malted Chocolate Cake:

Grease and flour or line with parchment an 8-inch or 9-inch pan; I have lined the bottom of an 8-inch loose-bottomed pan with high sides, with parchment paper. Keep aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or stir with a wire whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, baking soda and salt to combine well.

To this dry mixture, add 1 cup of water, 1/3 cup oil, 1 tbsp vinegar and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix well with a spatula or large spoon until just combined. If you feel the mixture is too dry, stir a few tablespoons of water; not too much.

Pour this cake batter into the prepared pan and level the top.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

(Around 23 minutes into baking, I lost power in the house and I was flabbergasted! I dared not open the oven, lest it falls flat, so I just let it remain in the hot oven and when the power came back after 20 minutes, I baked for an additional 12 minutes to make sure it was baked through; I tested with a toothpick and it needed a few minutes more to bake fully)!

You can test the cake around 25 to 27 minutes and adjust accordingly.

Remove from oven and place on cooling rack for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack. (As you can see, there is a crack on top which normally occurs when either the oven is too hot or when the pan size is a bit small. For a cake with less or no cracks, try to use the bigger pan like the 9-inch pan)

As I was going to cover the top with ganache, I was not too much bothered; I was totally satisfied with the rise! 

Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate malted ganache:

In a deep saucepan, heat the cream on low heat until it comes to a low simmer, stirring constantly.

Stir in the malted milk powder (1 ½ to 2 tbsp) and mix well with wire whisk to incorporate fully without any lumps.

Once the mixture comes to a low simmer, remove from heat and drop in the chopped chocolate. Close the lid and let sit for 5 minutes to allow the heat of the cream to soften and melt the chocolate.

After 5 minutes, gently mix the cream and chocolate with a spatula to a smooth, shiny, satiny ganache!

If you need a pouring thick consistency of ganache, cool this mixture for 15 minutes and then gently spoon over the cooled cake little by little, simultaneously spreading to the edges of the cake and letting the creamy, luscious ganache drizzle down the sides of the cake!

For a ganache that you want to spread like frosting or icing, let cool for at least 30 to 40 minutes and then spread over the top and sides of the cake to cover fully.

Sprinkle the ganache-topped cake with colored sprinkles, silver edible sprinkles, nuts etc.

Allow the fudgy, creamy, satiny ganache to set properly on the cake for a good half an hour before slicing the cake!  Enjoy!

Join the party at: #RecipeoftheWeek  |  #FiestaFriday with co hosts Diann @ Of Goats and Greens and Shinta @ Caramel Tinted Life. 

If you like this, you will love my:

Super Fudgy Chocolate Orange Cake

Vegan Chocolate Mocha Banana Cake

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