Mini Chocolate Malt Cakes

As I mentioned yesterday, I had planned to chat about Judy?s (Divina Cucina) great cookbook, Secrets from my Tuscan Kitchen, I won from Paula?s give-away. And, I will do that, but without a recipe to show for it. I have already read through the entire cookbook, marked the recipes I want to try, and dove in head first. But, if you follow me on twitter (@MeleCotte), you know my but cute lil? laptop completely died on me?blue screen, continuously looping system check without an outcome, etc. Thank goodness for warranties. Regardless of the wonders of warranties, I lost whatever I didn?t backup (which was, thankfully, only one day?s worth of stuff, and a zillion bookmarks.

Within that one day, all my pictures from Judy?s Pesce Finto were sacrificed. The recipe, Judy?s take on tuna fish, looked so cute shaped like a fish with its caper eye and cucumber gills. I have a love/hate relationship with tuna and was pretty psyched that I could consume this dish without hesitation! So, maybe I will make it again and post it at that time.

But the book? Oh?it?s wonderful! Judy formatted it for the home cook! Imagine that! I have always wanted to go to Tuscany for cooking classes/school, but since that is not in the cards at the moment, I will use the book. Fairly lightweight for a 223 page book, the print looks like (neat) handwriting, the recipes are easy to follow and include notes and variations, and (I love this) there is a blank, lined page on the left page of each recipe for cook notes. And, the food is authentic Italian, family, good-eatin' food anyone can cook. Italian made universal, so to speak. What do I mean? I used to watch Mario Batali and thought?I am never going to make that. At least, not unless there is an ultra, oober doober special occasion, and even that would be up for discussion?.no matter how Italian I am!

Now, as far as I can remember, I am not obligated to ?review?/comment about Secrets from my Tuscan Kitchen. And, truthfully, other than twitter, I don?t ?know? Judy. But, it has been a long time that I had a cookbook with which I could conceivably see myself making each and ever recipe in the compilation. In fact, I will be making another one of the recipes to accompany my dinner tonight.

I encourage you to check out Judy?s website, and/or order a copy. I don?t know how the currency exchanges/rates are, but don?t let that deter you. It is impressive without being extravagant.

Also is eye-catching without being extravagant are these Mini Chocolate Malt Cakes, which will not be accompanying my dinner, as they are on their way to the jail. Yup! They?re headed for the Clinker. Ha! Ha! My neighbor is a Sheriff and he will take them to his fellow officers.

There are two food definites you can count on happening when I go to NYC: a slice of Pizza and chocolate mint ?lentils? at Citarella. My routine deviated a little this time as I added Citarella?s ultimate malt balls in the mix. With the ultimate malt balls, I knew I wanted to do something fun. And, after looking at several malt cake recipes, I saw this recipe for Triple Malt Chocolate Cake and thought?this could work! Following my scan of all the comments, I tweaked and ended up with the following.

My thoughts? The taste was a cross between a brownie and German Chocolate. I must admit, they were a little overdone. You know when brownies get that crunchy outer layer that makes it a little? Yeah. That. I believe I will stick to the original 325°F oven temperature. As far as the frosting? I thought my "throw in this that and the other" attempt was a little sweet, but tasty and better at room temperature. It was slightly gritty because of the Malt. Next time, I will dissolve the powder in the milk.


*Cute "While You Were Out" plate from Fishs Eddy, NY
2" square pan by Wilton, like this one...(couldn't find Wilton's)

Mini Chocolate Malt Cakes
adapted from chow.com
2 cups malted milk powder 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 large eggs 1 cup granulated sugar ½ cup canola oil 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ¾ cup whole milk 1 recipe frosting of choice (my recipes follows) 1 cup malted milk balls, coarsely chopped Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange the rack in the middle. Coat 2 mini cake pans with oil and flour, and tap out any excess flour. Set aside. (I didn?t flour.)

Combine malted milk powder, flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl, and whisk to aerate and break up any lumps. Set aside. Combine eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla in a separate large bowl, and whisk until combined and smooth. Alternately add flour mixture and the milk, and whisk (or beat) until smooth, until all ingredients are just incorporated and smooth.

Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and the cakes start pulling away from the sides of the pans, about 15-20 minutes.
Remove cakes from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto the rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Malt Frosting
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened 2 Tbsp teaspoons light corn syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder ½ cup malted milk powder 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar ¼ cup milk Whisk together all the dry ingredients; set aside. In small bowl beat butter, corn syrup and vanilla; add dry ingredients and enough milk for a preferable consistency.