Currently baking out of Baked by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
I’ve made this recipe four times with four different results. While the cakes tasted okay, none of them were exactly what I was looking for. The first time I made this recipe, the cakes spilled out over the pans and then collapsed, like little volcanoes. When I tried to get the cakes out of the pans, they completely collapsed into a mound of crumbs. The cake was so tender, there was no structure to it.
The flavor? Wonderful. Nutty and toasty and warm. The texture was light and airy, and we couldn’t stop picking at it.
The next day, I toyed with the recipe. The first thing I did was rework it to fit two cake pans (the original recipe uses three). Then I increased the ratio of all-purpose flour to cake flour to help the structure and decreased the leavening. This version didn’t overflow the pans and didn’t collapse. I was able to get the cakes out of the pan with only minimum crumbling.
The last element of this recipe is a milk chocolate frosting. The frosting starts with a ganache (chocolate and cream) that is whipped with butter. Lots of butter. You end up with a silky smooth, very decadent frosting. This frosting plus that cake equals something very tasty. Talk about an upscale whopper!
So with a working recipe under my belt, why two more times? I wanted cupcakes. The first batch, using my modified recipe, never rose and never browned. The middles were gummy. This batch went into the trash (except for the edges that I nibbled on).
My last attempt at milk chocolate malt ball cupcakes involved taking a white cake recipe from a cookbook by Dorie Greenspan and merging it with my modified recipe. These cupcakes were much better, but still didn’t rise as much as I wanted them to. They also collapsed slightly as they cooled.
I really like the flavor combinations in this recipe, and I think there’s a really great cake/cupcake in there. Guess I’ve got some work ahead of me.
This looks delicious..i am really so happy to know these recipe figure and method..I love to eat cake(chocolate, fruit cake).. cake recipe specially for my husband…thanks a lot…
Carly, I’m sorry I didn’t get to you earlier. I was on vacation with no internet access. I used equal parts AP to cake flour.
I was going to make this cake this weekend for a birthday party– could you share the ratio of AP flour vs cake flour you used that was successful? I was worried about this being too tender of a crumb, and it looks like I was right to worry!
i love to eat cakes and bake them too that is why i am always on the lookout for cake recipes~”,
Cake recipes are the specialty of my best friend, my favorite ones are those exotic fruit cakes.;’
I love malt balls but only get them occasionally at the movies. I cannot imagine a whole cake around the topic. This looks delicious. I love getting to know all the workings you do to figure out the perfect recipe. I find it fascinating!