Nigella’s Chocolate Malteser Cake

For the cake
150g soft light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
3 eggs
175ml milk
15g butter
2 Tb horlicks (malt powder)
175g plain flour
25g cocoa, sieved
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the icing
250g icing sugar
1 tsp cocoa
45g horlicks (malt powder)
125g soft unsalted butter
2 Tb boiling water
2 x 37g packets maltesers

Take all of the ingredients out of the fridge so that they come to room temperature (though it’s not so crucial here because you’re heating the milk and butter and whisking the eggs). Preheat the oven to 170C. Butter and line two 20cm loose bottomed sandwich cake tins with baking paper.

Whisk together the sugar and eggs while you weigh out the other ingredients; I use a freestanding mixer for this.

Heat the milk, butter and horlicks powder in a saucepan until the butter melts, and it is hot but not boiling.

When the sugar and eggs are light and frothy, beat in the hot Horlicks mixture and then fold in the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

Divide the cake batter evenly between the two tins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, by which time the cakes should have risen and will spring back when pressed gently. Let them cool on a rack for about 5-10 minutes and then turn out of their tins.

Once the cakes are cold, you can get on with the icing. I use a processor because it makes life easier: you don’t need to sieve the icing sugar.

Put the icing sugar, cocoa and Horlicks in the processor and blitz to remove lumps. Add the butter and process again. Stop, scrape down, and start again, pouring the boiling water down the funnel with the motor running until you have a smooth buttercream.

Sandwich the cold sponges with half of the buttercream, then ice the top with what is left, creating a swirly top rather than a smooth surface.

Stud the outside edge, about 1cm in, with a ring of Maltesers, or use them to decorate the top in any way you want.

Grublover comment
This cake is absolutely delicious and works every time. The mixture is really wet so don’t be alarmed or add more flour when you are pouring it into the tins.
I like to make this into mini cupcakes for birthdays. Cook them in muffin cases at 170C for about 10-15 minutes and decorate each cupcake with some icing and a malteser.
The recipe was taken from Nigella Lawson’s fabulous book ‘Feast’.