Malted Chocolate Cake

A rich sinful and moist chocolate cake, because chocolates are forgiving. They are the perfect mood lifters. Chocolates have been our comfort on lonely days. They have been our instant energy boosters on long days. They have been our treats for being nice. They are our sin on cheat days and they are our celebration on our triumphs. So as on ode to the treat that defines our childhood, our first love, and our so many firsts, here is a simple Chocolate Cake Recipe.

I really enjoy the taste of malt in my chocolate. When I was young and did not like the taste of milk Ma would mix a spoon of Bournvita or Horlicks on my milk and I would gulp it down with gusto. So here I have tried a variation of a slightly malted taste on my cake too. Also, everyone needs a moist chocolate cake recipe and this one is for keeps.

Oh, and I really can't do much about my icing skills. This is something I can’t master even if my life depends on it. It does give my cakes a rustic old school feels though.

Ingredients for the cake:

1 cup flour

¼  cup cocoa

¼ cup chocolate Horlicks/Bournvita (any malted drink)

¼ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

A pinch of salt

1 tsp instant coffee

1 egg

½ cup buttermilk

½ cup warm water

1/3 cup melted butter or oil

½ tsp vanilla essence

¾ cup sugar

Method:

• Pulse the sugar in a blender/mixer. Preheat the oven for 10 mins at 180 degrees
• Mix the coffee along with all the wet ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add vanilla essence.
• Add the sugar and give it a nice mix till smooth
• Separately sieve all dry ingredients and mix it well
• Add all the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and make a smooth batter. It should not take more than 4-5 mins.
• Grease a baking tin and bake at 180 degrees for 30 mins.
• Let it cool completely before transferring into a dish for icing

Ingredients for Frosting:

150 ml cream (I prefer using the Amul Fresh Cream or Mother Dairy. It's light and works perfectly)

150 gm dark chocolate

4-6 spoons of malted milk powder (depending on your taste)

1 tbsp butter

Maltesers/Nutties etc  (Optional- for decoration)

Method:

• In a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Add the cream and blend in the mix properly. Add the butter and the malted milk powder.
• While icing the cake cut the cake from the middle into two equal parts. Put some frosting in the middle and then put in the top half of the cake. Finish with the rest of the frosting.

**In case you do not like malt, just substitute the malted chocolate for regular cocoa. And subtract the malt from the frosting completely.