42/52 Maltesers Ovomaltine Layer Cake

Do you like malt? I do.
Maltesers, Ovomaltine, malt beer - you name it.

I never thought about a malt cake until I saw a recipe on Pinterest of a cake decorated with halved Maltesers. Come on - not only does it look amazing, it also sounds very good.

So for our birthday celebration dinner with my hubby's aunt, uncle, and cousin, I just had to try it.
I did mix two different recipes though because I did not like the frosting of the original recipe too much. But see below for yourselves.

And believe me, it really is called Ovomaltine in Switzerland.

Maltesers Ovomaltine Layer Cake

Adapted from Poires au Chocolat

Note: This will be enough for a 5-6in baking pan only. Double the ingredients for a regular sized pan and adjust the baking time to about 30-35 minutes.

65 g flour

65 g butter, room temperature

65 g sugar

35 g Ovomaltine

1/3 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1.5 tablespoons milk

1.5 tablespoons boiling water

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).
• Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg.
• Fold in flour, Ovomaltine, and baking powder until just combined.
• Add milk and fold in. Add boiling water and mix quickly.
• Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

• Let cool completely and slice lengthwise (once or twice, depending on the height of the cake). Fill and decorate with Ovomaltine frosting (see recipe below).

Ovomaltine Frosting

Adapted from Bake!Bake!Bake!

Note: This will make enough for a regular sized cake or 2 5-6in cakes.

250 g powdered sugar

45 g Ovomaltine

125 g butter, soft

2 tablespoons water, boiling

75 g Maltesers

• Mix sugar, Ovomaltine and butter until combined. 
• Add boiling water while mixing to get a smooth buttercream. 
• Fill and decorate cake. 
• Cut Maltesers in halves with a sharp knife and decorate the cake shortly before serving so that they keep their crunchiness.

My modifications:

Both recipes use Horlicks instead of Ovomaltine. Since I cannot buy Horlicks here in Switzerland, I had to go with Ovomaltine. Horlicks is white and Ovomaltine is brown which not only changed the color but also the taste, I'm sure. The original frosting recipe adds cocoa to the Horlicks which I didn't feel necessary with the Ovomaltine.

The taste:

When I first tasted it I though that everybody would say that it is waaaaaay too sweet. I thought it was way too sweet. But if you embrace the sweetness it is actually very, very good. It was a total hit with our guests and they can be critical with cakes sometimes.

Just be warned of its sweetness. Or did I already mention that?!

Is there a flavor that you really like but never though about as an ingredient for cake or other baked goodies?