Happy Birthday!

This seemed to be the best day to start my blog as I have a birthday cake to hand! Sunday is Teenboy's 15th birthday and my blogs 1st day. It means that I'll always remember the date.

The cake is Nigella's Malteser Cake from Feast, with the added candles of course. Teenboy chose it himself although he was tempted by a porcupine cake in the Chocolate and Coffee Bible...not!

The recipe was easy to follow and although it called for Horlicks, not easily obtained around here I substituted it with the good Aussie favourite, Milo. It still has a lovely malty taste. I also used just one pan, a 23cm silicone pan so I just covered the cake top and sides.

Chocolate Malteser Cake from Feast by Nigella Lawson



For the cake

150g soft light brown sugar

100g caster sugar

3 eggs

175ml milk

15g butter

2 tablespoons Horlicks

175g plain flour

25g cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda


For the icing and decoration

250g icing sugar

1 teaspoon cocoa

25g Horlicks

125g soft unsalted butter

2 tablespoons boiling water

2 x 37g packets Maltesers

Take whatever you need out of the fridge so that all the ingredients can come to room temperature (though it's not so crucial here, since you're heating the milk and butter and whisking the eggs.
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3/170C. Butter and line two 20cm loose-bottomed sandwich cake tins with baking parchment.
Whisk together the sugars and eggs until light and frothy. Heat the milk, butter and Horlicks powder in a small saucepan until the butter has melted and the mixture is hot but not boiling. Beat the milk mixture into the eggs a little at a time. Fold in the dry ingredients thoroughly. 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. Let them cool on a rack for about 5-10 minutes and then turn them out of their tins.
Once the cakes are cold, you can get on with the icing. I use a processor just because it makes life easier: you don't need to sieve the icing sugar. So: 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.

Sandwich the cold sponges with half of the buttercream, and then ice the top with what is left, creating a swirly pattern rather than a smooth surface. Stud the outside edge, about 1cm in, with a ring of Maltesers or use them to decorate the top in which-ever way pleases you.
Makes 8-10 slices.



So Happy Birthday Teenboy and Happy Birthday blog!!!