This chocolate malt cake recipe uses malted milk powder to create an incredibly moist cake. You are going to want this homemade cake topped with an easy vanilla malt buttercream for your recipe box!
Chocolate and the month of February just kind of go together, don't they? Know what else goes really well together? Chocolate and malt.
Like, oh. my. gosh, go together. (channeling my best Big E there!)
You will love this homemade chocolate malt cake because it is simple to make, has a super soft and moist crumb and comes together quickly.
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WHAT IS CHOCOLATE MALT CAKE?
Chocolate malt cake is a chocolate cake with the addition of malted milk powder. Malted milk powder adds a barely nutty sweetness to the cake. The malt flavor is very subtle in the cake itself, but something about the malt brings SO much extra moisture to this cake. The vanilla malt buttercream brings much more malt flavor to the finished cake.
WHERE DO I BUY MALTED MILK POWDER?
Malted milk powder can be found in grocery stores near the powdered chocolate milk and hot cocoa. I use Nestle Carnation Original Malted Milk. You can also find it online at Amazon.
HOW TO MAKE A CHOCOLATE MALT CAKE
I love that this cake comes together without a mixer. Start by mixing the malted milk powder with the milk. Stir the two together to let the malted milk dissolve. Then prepare a 9x9 baking pan by either greasing it or lining it with parchment paper.
Next, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, both sugars, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the oil, vanilla, egg and malted milk mixture. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry. The batter is very thick at this point. Finally, add in hot water and whisk until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake.
If frosting on a cake isn't your thing, you can stop the recipe right here and dig into this easy chocolate malt cake. One of my testers said, "The cake is delightful, but the frosting-free-cake purist in me thinks it would be awesome with just a glaze too". Please remember the cake by itself does not have a very pronounced malt flavor.
MAKING VANILLA MALT BUTTERCREAM
I found adding malted milk powder to the buttercream was the best way to get the malt flavor to shine through. Plus, I love the contrast of the vanilla malt color with the chocolate cake.
The vanilla malt buttercream is fluffy and full of malt flavor. The fluffiness of the frosting comes from beating the butter for an extra long time.
After the butter is fluffy and whipped, add the malted milk powder and powdered sugar. Followed by some vanilla and heavy cream. Then whip it all together for some malty goodness buttercream!
HOW DID YOU GET ALL THOSE FLOWERS PIPED ON THIS CAKE?
I achieved this look by using Russian piping tips. Mr. two sugar bugs bought me these tips over a year ago and I finally pulled them out to play with them. I love the intricate look they bring to a cake! The tips are trickier to use than they look though. I'd venture to guess that I pipe buttercream more frequently than the average person and it did take a bit of playing around with these tips. If you look closely at the cake above, you will see that some of the tulips are incomplete or smooshed. With a little practice though, they can make anyone look like a pro! Here's a tutorial from Bluprint, How to Use Russian Piping Tips to Make Buttercream Flowers. Happy baking and decorating!
MORE HOMEMADE CAKE AND CUPCAKE RECIPES
- Browned Butter Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
- Cookie Butter Cake
- Homemade Raspberry Cake
- Perfect Coconut Cake
- Pink Velvet Cake
- Ruby Red Grapefruit Poppy Seed Cake
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Recipe shared with Meal Plan Monday and Weekend Potluck
Chocolate Malt Cake
Chocolate Malt Cake ~ This homemade cake recipe uses malted milk powder to create an incredibly moist cake. This simple, everyday cake is topped with an easy vanilla malt buttercream.
Ingredients
- ½ cup milk (I use 1%)
- â…“ cup malted milk powder
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup hot water
Vanilla Malt Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup malted milk powder
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350° F and prepare a 9x9 baking pan. You can grease the pan (if you want to leave the cake in the pan for decorating) or you can line it with parchment paper and lightly butter the paper. Leave a little overhang with the parchment paper so you can easily lift the cake out of the pan after baking.
- Add the malted milk powder to the milk and stir until fully dissolved. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, both sugars, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, vanilla, egg and malted milk mixture. Then add the wet ingredients into the dry, whisking to combine. The mixture will be thick. Add in the hot water and whisk until fully combined. Pour batter in the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs, about 25-30 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting: Whip the butter on high with the whisk attachment on a stand mixer for 7 minutes; stopping once to scrape up and down the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the malted milk powder and the powdered sugar. Stop and scrape up and down the bowl as needed until it’s all incorporated; you may have to up the speed a little to fully incorporate it all.
- Add the vanilla and heavy cream. Whip on high another 2-3 minutes on high until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Decorate the cool cake as desired.
Notes
Store any leftovers covered at room temperature for a couple days or in the refrigerator for up to one week.
I use Carnation Original Malted Milk Powder
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 328Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 200mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 1gSugar: 40gProtein: 2g
The nutrition information is an estimate and may not be entirely accurate.
Katherine | Love In My Oven
That cake looks SO moist and delicious Tasia. I have such a weakness for chocolate cake!! I would love a piece of this with my second cup of coffee this morning. Beautiful decorating, too!!
Tasia
I think you know how much of a fan I am of cake for breakfast! It would be perfect with a cup of coffee! Thank you Katherine!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
What a brilliant idea... and I love that piping tip!
Tasia
Thank you Heidi! I can't believe it took me so long to try out the Russian piping tips, they sure make everything a bit more pretty!
Christie
Oh say whatttt!!! This chocolate malt cake sounds soooo good! I want a slice of this!
Tasia
Thank you Christie! It's definitely a winning recipe!😉
Betty
could you please tell ell me what size is your tablespoon measurement please . thanks we use 20ml here .
Tasia
Hi Betty, a US tablespoon is equivalent to 15mL.
Sally
This chocolate cake has become an obsession with my family! It's so moist and yummy. Super easy to make too!
Tasia
Hi Sally, thank you for the kind review. My family adores this cake as well!
Kamille
Have you ever doubled it and made in a 9x13?
Tasia
Hi Kamille, I have not doubled this recipe for a 9x13 pan. It should work, but the bake time might be a little longer. Please let me know if you try it, happy baking!