Three weeks ago one of my life-long dreams came true. I got a KitchenAid Mixer. Oh yeah. A little birthday money helped me out and I purchased my very own Bosenberry machine. He is beyond beautiful and he mixes a treat.

I was so anxious to use it as soon as I pulled it out of the box, so I set about browsing Pinterest for an inspirational cake recipe. I wanted something super moist without being too rich, so I decided on a Malteaser based delight loosely put together from this recipe. That one called for chocolate ganache and I didn’t fancy anything that dark and glossy so I went for a light as air chocolate buttercream instead. And yes, it’s just a half cake, and that’s because Matthew and I are on a somewhat patchy healthy eating plan which meant we didn’t want a whole cake lying around. Half though, that’s fine.

(That’s me)

The Cake:

130g Self-raising Flour
130g Unsalted Butter, softened
130g Caster Sugar
70g Horlicks
2/3 tsp Baking Powder
2 Eggs
3 tbsp Milk
3 tbsp Boiling Water

NB: This amount of mix will fit fine into two standard sandwich tins, but double the recipe if you’re making a whole cake and using bigger tins like springforms like I am.

This recipe suited me pretty well because I didn’t want the cake to be too dense and chocolatey which happens with a lot of Malteaser Cake recipes. As mentioned in the original recipe, this mix of ingredients makes a pale, fluffy cake full of malty flavour.

First thing to do is preheat the oven to 180C. Butter your tin/tins. I never bother to line mine and rarely run into trouble. But feel free to line the bottom with baking parchment if you fancy it. I used 1 springform tin for a thicker cake (I wanted my cake a bit bigger than a standard sandwich tin – I rarely use a standard sandwich tin). This does mean you get a little ridge around the edge, but with a bucket load of buttercream it won’t show!

Cream the butter and sugar together. I cannot explain to you the glee I felt watching my KitchenAid work his magic. I added the eggs and beat the mixture on a medium speed until good and combined. Next, I sieved the remainder of the dry ingredients (flour, Horlicks and baking powder) together and folded in by hand – purely because I hadn’t done enough research into how to use a KitchenAid to fold in flour. I’ve since decided, after extensive research, that it’s best to always fold in flour by hand.

I folded until it was very nearly combined and then splashed in the milk and folded again. Then finally, I added the boiling water, folded once more (be careful not to overmix as the cake will lose it’s lightness) and then spooned the mix into the tin and whacked it in the oven.

I found that in my fan oven, the cake needed no more than 22 minutes before the skewer could go in and come out clean. I always check 5 minutes before the recommended time allowance to catch any over baking. If you’re using sandwich tins or making cupcakes with this recipe you’ll need less time. I left the cakes to cool, overturned onto wire racks. I always have a sit down while the cake is baking and then make the buttercream or whatever topping I’m using while the cakes are cooling. Otherwise I find I’m too eager to ice the cakes before they’re fully cooled and end up with melty topping, and no one wants that now, do they?

Chocolate Buttercream:

200g Icing Sugar, sifted
70g Unsalted Butter, softened
45g Cocoa Powder (I used Green & Blacks)
45ml Milk

The buttercream was adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery standard chocolate buttercream recipe. I’ve found that a lot of buttercream recipes just aren’t stiff enough for me and the Hummingbird recipe is the only one I can manage to whip or pipe without it losing it’s shape. Also, possibly because I’m a diabetic (whoops, shouldn’t be eating cake!) I usually find that the quantities are too big for me. I took the amount needed for one two tiered cake and made roughly one third of the recipe. Remember I was making a half cake. If I was making a full cake this size then I’d double the recipe above but obviously, if you’re a big lover of buttercream and want to be on the safe side, just use the full recipe (600g icing sugar, 200g butter, 80g cocoa, 80ml of milk).

I mixed the butter, sugar and cocoa together on a medium to slow speed until well combined. Then I turned the mixer down and added the milk (though the recipe calls for whole, I used semi-skimmed and it tasted great) one spoonful at a time until it was all mixed in. I then turned my mixer up to the highest speed (10) and left to beat for 5 minutes. When I got back it was light and fluffy!

I cut my sponge in half and sandwiched the 2 pieces one on top of the other, using buttercream to stick. I then slathered the buttercream all over the top and sides with an angled palette knife. I chopped a treat bag of Maltesers into halves and arranged them haphazardly all over the cake. If I’d had a little more time I would’ve done the side too, but Matt and I were getting impatient to tuck in! The Malteasers don’t last well in a tin so I’d recommend that you only put them on just before you’re presenting your cake otherwise they loose their crunch and the insides melt away after a few hours.

The cake was received very well and was possibly the lightest sponge I’ve ever made. It was really bubbly and crumby, very lovely. The mixer really takes the elbow grease out of the job and the kitchen looked a hell of a lot cleaner after I’d finished!

I’m in love with my KitchenAid. As I said, this was the first recipe I’ve tried with it and I’ve since been using it about 4 times a week on average – lots and lots of baked goods! Expect more (original) recipes to come :)

What’s your favourite cake?