This Malteser Drip Cake has four layers of chocolate cake. Malt buttercream, Malteser spread a chocolate drip and topped with lots of Malteser goodness.
I am literally obsessed with this cake. I mean just look at all that Malteser-ness.
If you haven’t guessed from the sheer number of Malteser recipes I have on my blog (Bronuts, Muffins, Macarons), I absolutely adore them.
If you haven’t come across Maltesers before they are basically malt balls covered in chocolate. They are the ultimate sweet treat, and this cake with its chocolate sponges and malt buttercream is perfect for a Malteser lover.
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How To Make the Malteser Drip Cake
To make the cake, I start by creaming together the butter and sugar together. In this cake I used light brown sugar in the cake. I normally do this with chocolate cake as I find it gives the cake a lovely fudgy and slight caramelly flavour.
If you can’t get a hold of light brown sugar or just don’t like it, you can use caster sugar instead. It shouldn’t make the biggest difference your cake won’t have a slight caramel flavour.
I add in the remaining ingredients and mix until they are all completely combined.
Related Recipes
White Chocolate Malteser Cupcakes
In this recipe I reduced the amount of self-raising flour and replaced with cocoa powder. I also added in milk as I always find that when adding cocoa powder to a cake it can make it taste a little dry. Reducing the amount of dry ingredients by swapping out part of the self-raising flour for cocoa powder and adding the milk in helps reduce dryness in the cake.
Split the cake mixture between 2 8” cakes tins and bake in the oven. Normally when baking a cake with four layers I use four separate cake tins. With this cake though I decided to split the mixture between two tins and bake for slightly longer.
There are a few different ways to tell if the cakes are baked. If you gently press down on the top of the cake it should spring back when you remove your finger. You could also use a cake tester to test the thickest part of the cake. If it comes out clean then the cakes are ready. If not pop them back into the oven for 3-4 minutes and repeat until they are baked.
Once the cakes are baked, leave them to cool slightly in the cake tins. Then move them onto wire racks to cool fully.
Malt Buttercream
Once the cake has completely cooled, we can make the buttercream. This is such an important step, because the buttercream is, obviously, made from butter if we put it onto a warm cake, it will just melt.
The buttercream is one of the best parts of the cake and it is so simple and easy to make. It is only three ingredients. Unsalted butter, icing sugar and malt powder.
In the buttercream, you MUST use unsalted butter. You can’t use a baking spread like Stork it is just too soft and sweet. It must be unsalted butter, the type that comes wrapped in foil, normally in 250g blocks in the supermarket.
Mix all the ingredients together until it comes together. If it is too thick add 1 tbsp of milk and mix again. Repeat until you reach the desired consistency.
Covering the Cake
For this cake I decorated it on a cake board because we are going to cover the outside of the cake with buttercream, it is just easier to do on a flat surface. Using a plate might be quite difficult especially if the plate has a lipped edge.
Leave the buttercream to the side and split your two cakes into four layers. I found this cake leveller a game-changer. It is so easy to ensure that each layer is cut perfectly straight and that both cakes are the same height.
Spread the buttercream in between each layer but you could also spread over some Malteser spread.
If you haven’t tried Malteser Spread yet stop what you are doing right now! You need to try this spread it is AMAZING! It is chocolatey, and malty and even has little mini Maltesers in it!
It works perfectly on this cake, but if you want to buy an extra jar to eat with a spoon I won’t judge.
Once all your cakes are stacked, we need to add buttercream to the side of the cake. I find the easiest way to do this is by using a palette knife to spread the buttercream around the sides.
I then used a cake smoother to go around the sides of the cake and smooth the buttercream. For your first coat of buttercream, it doesn’t need to be too thick as this is just the crumb coat.
The crumb coat is a thin layer of buttercream around the outside of the cake that helps to keep all the crumbs contained, so they don’t end up mixing in with your final buttercream layer.
Once your crumb coat layer has set you can spread the remaining buttercream and smooth your cake smoother.
You might need to go around the cake a few times, I find the easiest way is by using a turntable to spin the cake and keeping my cake smoother still if this makes sense.
If there are any bumps or dents in the buttercream just fill these in with any buttercream you have left or buttercream that you have scraped off the side of the cake and smooth again. Keep any leftover buttercream to one side we will use this to decorate the top.
Once the cake is completely smooth leave to one side and make the drip.
Making the Chocolate Drip
Making the drip is super quick and easy. Add the chocolate to a bowl. In a separate bowl warm the double cream. I did this in the microwave in 20-second increments. You don’t want the cream to be boiling but you don’t want it to be cool either.
A good indicator that it is warm enough to melt the chocolate is when you see steam rising from it.
Pour over the chocolate and leave for five minutes. Then mix until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
If there are still some stubborn lumps of chocolate add the full mixture to the microwave and again heat in 20-second bursts, stirring in between until the chocolate is completely melted.
Piping and Decorating
I used a piping bag to do my drip. I used a disposable piping bag because then I can just snip the tip of the bag off. If you are using a reusable piping bag I would recommend using a small round nozzle to do your drip.
Go around the edge of the cake holding the tip of the piping bag just slightly above the cake. Squeeze gently and encourage the chocolate to drip around the edge of the cake. Squeeze and hold the piping bag slightly longer if you want a longer drip.
Once you have gone around the edges of the cake add the remaining chocolate to the top of the cake and smooth using a palette knife.
Before you add any decorations to the top of the cake you need to let the chocolate drip set. To do this you can either leave it in a cool part of the kitchen or pop it into the fridge to set.
Once it has set, you can spread it over the Malteser spread and pipe any leftover buttercream. Decorate with all the Maltesers you can possibly fit onto the top.
Storage
I would recommend storing the cake in an airtight container at room temperature. If you put the cake into the fridge, it will make the cake hard.
The cake should last around 3-4 days.
Alternatives
You could add 50g of malt powder to the cake to make a chocolatey malt cake.
Equipment
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Malteser Drip Cake
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
- 450 g Unsalted Butter or Stork
- 450 g Light Brown Sugar
- 400 g Self-Raising Flour
- 50 g Cocoa Powder
- 9 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 30 ml Whole Milk
For the Malt Buttercream
- 750 g Icing Sugar
- 50 g Malt Powder
- 400 g Unsalted Butter
For the Chocolate Drip
- 100 g Milk or Dark Chocolate
- 100 g Double Cream
For the Decoration
- Maltesers Spread
- Maltesers
- Malteser Buttons
Instructions
To Make the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 170C (150C Fan). Line two 8” cake tins with greaseproof paper and leave them to the side.
- In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy
- Add in the flour, cocoa powder, eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract, and milk. Whisk until all the ingredients are combined.
- Pour the mixture into the two cake tins and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes. You will know they are ready when they are springy to touch.
- Leave them to cool in the cake tin for 15-20 minutes and then remove and put them on a wire rack to cool fully.
To Make the Malt Buttercream
- Once your cakes have cooled make the buttercream.
- In a bowl mix together the Icing Sugar, Malt Powder and Butter until combined. If the mixture is too thick add 1 tbsp of whole milk and mix again. Repeat until the buttercream is the desired consistency.
To Decorate
- Once the cakes have cooled completely, level and half each cake so you end up with four layers.
- Place your first cake on your serving plate and spread the buttercream on top. Smooth using a spatula, don’t worry if any of the buttercream splodges out the side.
- Repeat until all four cakes are stacked.
- Smooth the buttercream around the sides of the cake and into any gaps. Smooth using a cake smoother. Don't worry if you can still see the cake through the buttercream this is just our crumb coat.
- Pop the cake into the fridge for 30 minutes or so until the buttercream has set.
- Once the buttercream has set remove the cake from the fridge and spread the remaining buttercream onto the top of the cake. Using a palette knife smooth the buttercream onto the top of the cake and around the sides.
- Using your smoother, smooth around the sides, if there are any gaps fill these with the buttercream and continue to smooth around the sides until the cake is smooth. You will most likely take some of the buttercream off the cake if you do pop this back into your bowl.
- Smooth the top of your cake using your angled palette knife.
- Put the cake back into the fridge for 30 minutes for the buttercream to set.
- Any leftover buttercream pop into a piping bag and leave to one side.
Make the Chocolate Drip
- Pop the chocolate in a bowl. In a separate bowl or jug add the double cream and heat in the microwave on 20-second bursts.
- You don't want the cream to be boiling but you don't want it to be too cool, the perfect temperature is when there is steam coming from the cream.
- Pour the cream over the chocolate and leave for 5 minutes.
- Stir the chocolate and cream mixture until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture smooth. If there are any stubborn pieces of chocolate that haven't melted pop the whole mixture back into the microwave for 20-seconds and stir again.
- Add the chocolate to a piping bag and either snip the tip of the bag off or use a small round nozzle.
- Go around the edge of the cake and encourage it to drip. I do this by holding the piping bag ever so slightly away from the cake. If you have any leftover ganache pour it onto the top of the cake and smooth.
- Put the cake back into the fridge until the chocolate drip has set.
- Once the chocolate drip has set, decorate the top of the cake by spreading some Malteser Spread over the top. Pipe any leftover buttercream onto the top of the cake and decorate with Maltesers!
Notes
- This cake will last for 3+ days.
