These Malted Chocolate Cake Truffles are like cake pops without the stick, except a little bit moister inside, like a brownie. The malt adds so much to the chocolate flavor!
Ingredients
For the malted chocolate cake:
1ozunsweetened cocoa powder, by weight(1/4 cup + 2 tbsp, measured)
4.25ozflour, by weight(about 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp, measured)
5.75ozmalted milk powder, by weight(1 cup, measured)
1tspbaking soda
1/2tspbaking powder
1/4tspsalt
1egg
1/4cupvegetable oil
3/4cupsugar
1/2cupwhole buttermilk
1/2tspvanilla extract
1tbspespresso powder mixed with 2 tbsp boiling water
chocolate shavingsfor rolling
For the malted chocolate buttercream:
4egg yolks
1cupsugar
1/3cupfiltered water
1/4cupmalted milk powder
1/2cupunsalted buttercold and cut into cubes (1 stick)
2ozchopped unsweetened chocolate100% cacao
Instructions
Start with the cake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line a cake pan with a round of parchment paper on the bottom. Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, malted milk powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set it aside.
Whisk the egg, vegetable oil, sugar, buttermilk, vanilla, and hot espresso like heck for a good 30 seconds until foamy and bubbly on top. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients, whisking JUST until the flour disappears (no overstirring allowed. You’ll make the cake tough).
Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes until the interior reaches 200 degrees F, but hey, since we’re crumbling it up anyway, just use a knife to peek into the middle and see if it’s done. And a quick note: the cake/brownie will puff up a ton and then sink in the middle. This is normal.
Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack. Time to work on the buttercream.
The buttercream is made in the same way as my French Almond Buttercream. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks on high speed for 10 minutes until they are very pale. In the meantime, combine the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, and let the sugar syrup simmer to the soft ball stage (238 degrees on an instant read thermometer).
When both the egg yolks and the sugar syrup are ready, pour the sugar syrup into the mixing bowl (the mixer should still be on high speed), aiming as best as you can to pour between the wire whisk and the side of the bowl. Dump in the malted milk powder. Now if you touch the bottom of the bowl, it will be very hot. Beat the egg yolk sugar mixture until the bowl feels neither hot nor cold (about 5 minutes).
Turn the mixer down to medium and add the butter, a couple cubes at a time to the bowl, over the course of 10 minutes. Wait until each installment of butter is absorbed until you add the next batch.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler (if you don’t know how to do this, see my chocolate article). Add the melted chocolate to the buttercream and mix until the chocolate is distributed. Refrigerate the buttercream until it’s cold.
To assemble the cake truffles: Crumble up the cooled cake with your fingertips. Add about 1/3 of the buttercream and mix until distributed. If the cake is not sticky enough, you can add a tbsp or two more to the cake, but don’t make the cake truffles too wet. Portion out little scoops of the truffle mixture with a cookie scoop and roll into a ball between the palms of your hands. Roll in the chocolate shavings, and refrigerate until they firm up. They will taste best the next day when the flavors have melded together, just make sure to store in an airtight container so they don’t dry out. Enjoy!
Notes
Note: I use half the normal amount of butter in the buttercream, so it’s a bit looser than your usual buttercream. If you want it thicker, add one more stick of butter.