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Chocolate Malt Memories

Jun 5 by Anita 41 Comments

Maltchoccake  

Because I didn't have enough fun making an opera cake for Daring Bakers, I went for another layered, multi-component cake last week. Sometimes I like to go for simple, breezy creations and other times I just feel like challenging my skills. Making layer cakes is always an exercise that keeps me on my pastry toes. Also, it was my sister's birthday, and she is an unabashed lover of all things chocolate. I'd had my eye on this elegant little number from Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot for quite a while, and now seemed like the ideal time to break it out.

As Ong describes his creation, it's a death by chocolate cake filtered through a distinctly Asian sensibility. Unlike most Western odes to decadence, which usually involve adjectives like fudgy, gooey, or sticky, and accoutrements like nuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top, this dessert hews to a lighter, more ethereal course. But I'm happy to say the perfect balance of flavors and textures makes it no less dreamily satisfying.

Besides a tendency towards airier, more restrained composition, I've also noticed that many Asian desserts have an affinity for pairing chocolate with malt or coffee. Ong goes for the triple play by combining a chocolate genoise with a malted chocolate mousse and a Vietnamese coffee buttercream. I made all three components, but when it came to assembling them I found I preferred the way the cakes looked without the buttercream. The original recipe called for making one big square cake, which is naturally easier to frost than several small round cakes. The smoky-sweet buttercream, made with Vietnamese coffee and condensed milk, was definitely spoon-licking good though, and I'll probably find a way to use it again, whether in this dessert or another.

Maltchoccake3

My aim was to make those elegant individually-sized cakes you see in those French patisseries, and to make them you need those little metal cake rings. Using them is a bit like making a cake with a blindfold, since you can't see whether your layers are even. It was even trickier with this dessert since it was designed to make a single cake, and I didn't know whether the amounts of cake and mousse were proportioned to making multiple miniature cakes. A little eyeballing, a little guestimating, and I came out with some fairly well-stacked little guys. If it's any reassurance, though, even if the cakes don't come out perfectly even (and I had a few) they're still just as delicious!

The cake is basically a cocoa-flavored genoise and bakes up like a dream: light, springy, and moist. The malted chocolate mousse is airy, creamy, and silky, like all the best mousses should be. I never knew that malted milk was so popular around the world until I went to Hong Kong when I was ten and saw ads on tv touting Horlicks as the perfect breakfast food. In the United States, Carnation and Ovaltine are the most popular brands, but elsewhere there several other choices, the most well known ones being Horlicks and Milo. The same brands can be formulated differently for different markets, so be sure to compare and find which one you like best. Many brands, like Ovaltine and Milo, have cocoa in them so they have a sweeter, more chocolatey flavor. Horlicks has the most straightforward, unsweetened malt flavor. Ong recommends Horlicks in his recipe; combined with bittersweet chocolate it makes for a lovely mousse with notes of caramel and cocoa. I'm not sure if I use quite enough gelatin in making the mousse: it was wonderfully smooth and creamy but was not as firm as I would have liked. I think I might recommend against adding more gelatin and just noting that these cakes will soften up quite quickly once you remove them from the refrigerator. 

Dusted with a little cocoa on top, this cake reminds of Maltesers, another malted delight I was introduced to in Hong Kong. I consumed these malted milk balls by the bagful whenever I went there. There is a brand of malted milk balls in the US called Whoppers but to me there is absolutely no contest: Maltesers are far and away the superior candy. When a dessert makes me think of malted milk balls, I know it's going to stay on my list of favorites. It might take a bit of time in the kitchen, the results are surely worth it: an ideal chocolate indulgence for springtime.

Maltchoccake2

Malted Chocolate Mousse Cakes

adapted from Pichet Ong's The Sweet Spot

Makes about 8 2 1/2" round cakes

Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (45 g) cocoa powder

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

5 large eggs, separated

2/3 cup (125 g) sugar

4 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 up (50 g) vegetable or canola oil

3 tablespoons buttermilk

Malted Chocolate Mousse

3/4 cup (168 g) whole milk

1/2 cup (98 g) sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (37 g) malted milk powder

6 large egg yolks

1 1/4 teaspoons powdered gelatin, dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water

5 ounces (150 g) bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1 cup (226 g) whipping cream

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 11 x 17 baking pan with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, and spray again. If you can find a pan with a rim at least 1" high, that's probably best – some jelly roll pans might a little too shallow.

Sift the cocoa, flour, and cornstarch into a bowl and set aside.

In stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites at medium-high speed until soft peaks star to form. Add 1/3 cup of the sugar in a slow, steady stream. Continue whisking medium-soft peaks have formed. Do not overwhip the whites. Scrape the whites into a bowl, and clean the mixer bowl and whisk.

Place all 9 egg yolks in the clean mixer bowl and whisk on medium until they are combined. Add the salt and remaining sugar in a slow, steady stream. Continue whisking until the mixture is pale yellow and very thick.

Whisk about half of the egg whites into th e egg yolk mixture by hand to lighten it up. Fold in the dry ingredients carefully until almost fully incorporated. Fold in the rest of the egg whites carefully.

Whisk the oil and buttermilk together in a bowl. Fold into the batter until fully incorporated.

Spread the batter into the pan and even out the surface with an offset spatula. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. The surface should be just dry and springy to the touch. Let cake cool on rack.

To make the mousse, combine the milk, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Heat on stove over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and bubbles are starting to form around the edges. Whisk in the malted milk powder and cook until fully dissolved. Remove mixture from heat.

Whisk the egg yolks together in a large bowl. Pour in about half of the malted milk mixture in a steady stream, whisking constantly to prevent the egg yolks from cooking. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and return to the stove. Cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove saucepan from heat and add the gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Add in the chocolate and stir until fully melted and incorporated. Let mixture sit and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Whip the cream to soft peaks. Fold gently into the chocolate mixture. The mixture may look very liquidy now but it will firm up as it cools and the gelatin sets.

When the mousse seems thick enough to spread, you can assemble the cakes. Place 8 cake rings on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. Use a 2 1/2" round cookie cutter to cut out circles from the cake. You want to have 3 circles of cake for each cake ring. Place a circle of cake into the bottom of a cake ring. Spoon some mousse in. Top with another circle of cake, some more mousse, and the final circle of cake. If you have room you can spoon some mousse on top, but depending on how soft your mousse is it might make it trickier for the cake to hold its shape.

Chill cakes in the refrigerator overnight.

Unmold cakes shortly before serving them. Dust a little cocoa powder on top if desired.

Tagged with: chocolate malted mousse cake + pichet ong

Bite This!

Filed Under: Cakes, Chocolate, Recipes Tagged With: cake, chocolate, malt

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Comments

  1. 1

    Deborah says

    Jun 5 at 10:00 am

    Your creations are always so beautiful!

    Reply
  2. 2

    Rosa says

    Jun 5 at 10:20 am

    Those cakes look gorgeous! They must taste really great! Extremely pretty…

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  3. 3

    Rosa says

    Jun 5 at 10:21 am

    Those cakes look gorgeous! They must taste really great! Extremely pretty…

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  4. 4

    Asianmommy says

    Jun 5 at 1:19 pm

    Oooh–fancy! Looks sooo good!

    Reply
  5. 5

    Maria says

    Jun 5 at 2:21 pm

    These little cakes are so cute! My soon to be husband LOVES Ovaltine! I will have to try this cake for him. Maybe he can even eat it for breakfast:) Great work Anita!

    Reply
  6. 6

    Sheltie Girl says

    Jun 5 at 4:38 pm

    This is a gorgeous dessert. I love malted milk balls and any dessert that celebrates one of my favorite candies I have to try out.

    Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

    Reply
  7. 7

    kat says

    Jun 5 at 5:23 pm

    horlicks, now that is a blast from the past 🙂 beautiful dessert!

    Reply
  8. 8

    Lori says

    Jun 5 at 5:58 pm

    this looks heavenly. THey are beautiful little cakes!

    Reply
  9. 9

    Ginny says

    Jun 5 at 6:05 pm

    Looks amazing!!! Please send one my way!

    Reply
  10. 10

    lauren says

    Jun 5 at 6:26 pm

    that cake looks so good!!! i like the little heart on the top.

    Reply
  11. 11

    Verena says

    Jun 5 at 7:03 pm

    Mmm, malt is another childhood favorite of mine. I remember going through packs of Horlicks candy as a kid, and my grandma used to give us a bag of Malteser’s every time we see her that I grew sick of them eventually.

    Making layer cakes are always a challenge for me. Your mini malted chocolate mousse cakes are absolutely cute and stunning! 😀

    Reply
  12. 12

    Cecilia says

    Jun 5 at 7:43 pm

    It’s as if you read my mind!! I was craving chocolate malt. I can’t wait to make it. Next…will work on a chocolate malted cookie. yum!

    Reply
  13. 13

    My Sweet & Saucy says

    Jun 5 at 9:34 pm

    Great choice of recipes! It sounds so delicious! By chance do you remember where you bought those cute brown cups in the background…I would love to purchase some!

    Reply
  14. 14

    sharm says

    Jun 6 at 12:31 am

    Gorgeous cake! When do we fold in the whipped cream for the mousse? After the mixture has cooled to room temperature, but before it has set, would i be right to presume?

    Thanks!

    Reply
  15. 15

    Christy says

    Jun 6 at 1:07 am

    Ohhh I miss the smell and taste of Horlicks! Your post reminds me that I should scour every Asian shop in Melbourne to see if I can lay my hands on one!!

    Reply
  16. 16

    Hillary says

    Jun 6 at 7:31 am

    That is a beautiful cake! I am very very impressed…nice job puling it off!

    Reply
  17. 17

    Patricia Scarpin says

    Jun 6 at 10:49 am

    Oh, Anita, those little hearts on top of the cakes make me smile! These are beautiful!

    Reply
  18. 18

    michelle @ TNS says

    Jun 6 at 1:04 pm

    i GOTTA get that book.

    my husband would shit a brick for that cake. in a good way.

    Reply
  19. 19

    Aran says

    Jun 6 at 10:55 pm

    beautiful… chocolate and malt brings back great memeories for me too…

    Reply
  20. 20

    Katie says

    Jun 7 at 12:22 am

    Simply beautiful

    Reply
  21. 21

    peabody says

    Jun 7 at 1:05 am

    Malted? Oh yum, like little Whopper cakes.

    Reply
  22. 22

    Mike says

    Jun 7 at 11:24 am

    Wow, that is an impressive looking cake! I would gobble mine up in a second…and feel guilty about it since it looks so good.

    Reply
  23. 23

    Wheeler's Frozen Desserts says

    Jun 7 at 2:38 pm

    Wow! That is so pretty and quaint!

    Reply
  24. 24

    T says

    Jun 8 at 9:47 am

    Hi Anita,

    Those are so cute! I also love Maltesers and Horlicks…they bring back lots of childhood memories.

    I especially love the heart decoration on top! =)

    Reply
  25. 25

    Anita says

    Jun 8 at 11:53 am

    Thank you all for the kind comments! The cakes were quite well received so I’d say this recipe is a keeper!

    Melody, I got the brown cups at Crate and Barrel – I’m not sure if they have them, but I’m always finding some cute new item there!

    Reply
  26. 26

    Sophie says

    Jun 9 at 8:57 am

    Chocolate and coffee make the perfect pair.

    This is a lovely birthday treat :).

    Reply
  27. 27

    chef ledarney says

    Jun 9 at 6:57 pm

    Wonderful recipe and fantastic photos.

    Reply
  28. 28

    RecipeGirl says

    Jun 10 at 6:14 am

    These are so pretty! I’d like to try using those cake rings. They turn out such cute little desserts!

    Reply
  29. 29

    Angela says

    Jun 10 at 6:26 am

    Oooooh, chocolate malt! I may have to make these little beauties for Father’s Day this weekend. My husband goes nuts for malted shakes, so I suspect he’ll love these 🙂

    Reply
  30. 30

    Kirsten says

    Jun 12 at 5:29 am

    The photos are great and it looks so delicious!!! Unfortunately I don’t eat any sweets at the moment (I try to lose some kilos), but it is soooo difficult, when I see such wonderful pictures… Well, I am leaving that website for today, eating some fruits and trying not to think about your wonderful chocolate malt memories.

    Reply
  31. 31

    pyondi says

    Jun 15 at 1:04 am

    Today I discovered your blog and I already love it!
    Great images, delicius recipes….
    I’ll follow your work…
    🙂

    Reply
  32. 32

    Dondon says

    Jun 23 at 9:30 am

    That cake is soo perfect…nice job mate…

    Reply
  33. 33

    Anita says

    Jun 23 at 9:52 pm

    Thanks again all! I really liked how this one turned out!

    Reply
  34. 34

    Tartelette says

    Jun 25 at 4:14 pm

    Thank you! I now have B’s birthday cake for July! And since he crushes on your blog as much as I do…I kno he’ll be happy!

    Reply
  35. 35

    Cathy C says

    Jun 26 at 5:32 pm

    WOW – the problem with these is that I could not stop at just one….Malt = Happy memories!! Thanks

    Cheers
    Cathy
    http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com

    Reply
  36. 36

    maybelles mom (feeding maybelle) says

    Jul 30 at 11:53 am

    how fun.

    Reply
  37. 37

    Maja says

    Sep 21 at 9:16 am

    Absolutly fantastic!

    Reply
  38. 38

    Sylvia says

    Jan 28 at 1:45 pm

    MmmMm..looks too good to be true!! 🙂

    Reply
  39. 39

    chef stev says

    May 22 at 3:51 pm

    Awesome presentation!

    Reply

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about pastrygirl

Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter, and dog Max. More about pastrygirl

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