Baking 2 chocolate cakes in as many days is probably a little excessive. I wasn’t even in the mood to bake at all on Sunday (having got my fix on Friday) but clearly it has become such a weekly ritual that Izzy just can’t comprehend the prospect of a weekend without some time together in the kitchen.

We flicked through some of my recipe books together and Izzy selected Nigellas’s Chocolate Malteser Cake (page. 283 of ‘Feast’). I’m sure the decision was based solely on the fact that she figured there might be some of those yummy chocolate balls left over and that she might get to eat them and the cake!

The cake was delicious, although the fact my heart wasn’t quite in it was apparent in the end product. The batter ran a little lumpy and I left the cakes in the oven ever so slightly too long. Still, it was yummy and I’ll certainly bake this again. The maltiness doesn’t overpower the cake but it’s obvious that there’s something a little special going on with the chocolate. I have a feeling Laura, a fellow baking enthusiast, would like this. I’d have demolished this while I was pregnant and look, no cream cheese frosting in sight!

For the cake you will need:
150g soft light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
3 eggs
175ml milk
15g butter
2 tablespoons Horlicks (or another generic malt drink… I went for Sainsburys own brand as it was significantly cheaper!)
175g plain flour
25g cocoa sieved
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

For the icing and decoration:
250g icing sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa (although I added an extra teaspoon as I wasn’t happy with the colour of the icing at first)
45g Horlicks
125g soft unsalted butter
2 tablespoons boiling water
2 x 37g packets of Maltesers

1. Bring all the ingredients to room temperature by taking everything out of the fridge. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3/170c and butter and line two 20cm sandwich cake tins with baking parchment.
2. Whisk together the sugar and eggs.3. Heat the milk, butter and Horlicks powder together in a pan until the butter melts, and it is hot but not boiling. This mixture smelt amazing, so yummy!4. When the sugars 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.5. 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. Leave to cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes and then turn out.
6. Once the cakes have cooled, you can get on with the icing. As per Nigella’s suggestion I did mine in my dinky little Magimix, an incredibly simple and quick method. Put the icing sugar, cocoa and Horlicks in the processor and blitz to remove all 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.
7. Sandwich the the 2 sponges with half the buttercream, and then ice the top with what is left, creating a swirly top as opposed to a smooth surface. Stud the outside edge with a ring of Maltesers or go all out and get creative with those little chocolaty balls of yum.
8. Slice and enjoy!

I’m definitely all caked out for now! If I bake anything this weekend it will be biscuits or cookies!

Loveaudrey xxx