Chocolate Malteser Cake

Here is a very Kingly looking cake with its lovely malty crown which I thought was fitting for Fathers Day celebrations. The malty flavours running through the cake & icing, topped with the maltesers really gave this cake a unique flavour which seemed to go down very well with all, it was lovely & not too sweet or heavy. The recipe comes from Nigella's feast. For Michaels first Fathers Day, Chloe showered him with gifts & we had a lovely day out at his sisters in Laurimer, which is a lovely estate out in what to me feels like the country, around Whittlesea way. They have a huge house on a humungous block that is really very nice though I can’t imagine living that far away from it all in such isolation from my beloved Brunswick with its unique mix of people, parks, cafes & shops that provide endless hours of walking & entertainment for Chloe & I, especially now that the weather is getting to be just how I like it, sunny & happy! So for now I will stick to my little house that I love so I can be where the action is & dream of the day I can afford a big house in Brunswick with a big backyard so I can have my veggie patch, fruit trees & grass for the kids to play on, who knows I may just get my dream one of these days if I can be patient a little while longer (note patience is not my strong point!).

Chocolate Malteser Cake

Cake
150g soft light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
3 eggs
175ml milk
15g butter
2 tablespoons horlicks
175g plain flour
25g cocoa, sieved
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Icing
250g icing sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa
45g horlicks
125g soft unsalted butter
2 tablespoons boiling water
2 x 37g packets maltesers

Take anything you need from the fridge out & allow to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 170c. Butter & line two 20cm loose-bottomed sandwich cake tins with baking paper.

Whisk together the sugars & eggs while you weigh out the other ingredients. Heat the butter, milk & horlicks in a saucepan until the butter melts, and it is hot but not boiling. When the sugars & eggs are light & frothy, beat in the horlicks mixture and then fold in the flour, cocoa, baking powder & bicarb of soda. Divide the cake batter evenly between the two tins & bake for 25 minutes, the cakes will spring back when touched when ready. Let them cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes & then turn onto a rack to cool completely.

Put the icing sugar, cocoa & horlicks in a food processor & blitz to remove any lumps. Add the butter & blitz again. Stop, scrape down the sides & start again, pouring the boiling water down the funnel until you have a smooth buttercream. Sandwich the cakes together with half the mix & put the rest on top then finish off with a ring of maltesers around the edge.