Wild Thistle Kitchen: Glazed Salted Malted Chocolate Bundt Cake

This glorious glazed, salted, malted chocolate bundt cake came to me in a snow-covered dream. I woke up the morning after a 48-hour-long snowstorm knowing I had to do three things: shovel my driveway, take my kids sledding and bake this cake. It is no secret that I love to be snowed in. I view it as nature’s permission to let everything go and to cook and bake all the things.

In January of 2016, Northern Virginia was in the epicenter of the “snowzilla” storm. We had historic snowfall and the world shut down for a few days. It was pretty wonderful. Baking on a snow day is a must for me — and for my kids! I was literally dreaming about creating this bundt cake and its malty glaze. It just had to happen.

This cake is the perfect snow-day bake. This recipe does not require a mixer and I bet you have most of the ingredients in your pantry. I hope you’ll give it a try and see why I’ve been making it regularly since its snowy debut in 2016.

Malted milk powder is a key ingredient in this cake. Have you had it? The Carnation brand of malted milk powder is sold in most grocery stores in the coffee/tea/hot chocolate section. Of course, you can find it online as well. You can stir it into cold milk, add it to your favorite cookie recipes or make milkshakes with it. It’s nostalgic, old-fashioned and truly one of my favorite things. It was 100-percent the inspiration behind this entire recipe.

My son loves it, too, which just makes me so darn happy. Have I ever told you how much I love that little guy? And it’s no surprise that this cake is one of his favorite desserts.

A few tips …

• To make this a one-bowl cake, I like to sift the ingredients onto a piece of parchment and then tip them into the wet ingredients. Of course, you will have to mix the glaze in a bowl or a spouted measuring cup, but having one less dish to wash up is always a good thing!
• Mixing the cocoa powder and the malted milk powder into the warm butter helps dissolve any lumps. It also allows the cocoa to bloom and really develop its flavor.
• Really make sure to grease your bundt pan well. I love using Baker’s Joy spray, but if you don’t have it, make sure to butter and flour your pan and get all the nooks and crannies.
• If you want to avoid the glaze pooling around the bottom of your cake plate or stand, you can place the cake on a wire rack on top of a baking tray lined with parchment. But too much of this glaze is not a bad thing!

Glazed Salted Malted Chocolate Bundt Cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour and 5 minutes

Ingredients

For the cake:

Nonstick baking spray (I am in love with Baker’s Joy) or butter and flour for the pan

1 cup butter, melted (2 sticks or 8 ounces)

⅓ cup cocoa powder (I prefer a dark one, but I have used just about every kind that exists in this recipe)

1 cup malted milk powder (I use Carnation brand)

2 large eggs

½ cup sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup hot water (use 1 cup hot coffee for a mocha cake!)

1 ½ teaspoons flaked sea salt, crushed between fingertips (or use kosher salt)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

For the glaze:

1 & ½ cups confectioners’ sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

4 tablespoons malt powder (plus a pinch or two for sprinkling)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons milk (or enough to make a smooth, pourable glaze)

Sprinkle of sea salt (my favorite is Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, but kosher salt will work just fine)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-to-12-cup bundt pan, or spray generously with baking spray. Set aside.

In a large glass mixing bowl, melt butter in microwave. Add cocoa powder and malt powder and whisk until smooth. Add eggs, sour cream, vanilla and water (or coffee) and whisk again until smooth.

On a large piece of parchment, sift together the flour, salt, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and whisk until smooth. This is a loose batter, so don’t worry if it looks too thin.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Don’t overbake! Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack set over a baking tray.

While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate glaze. Place all ingredients except salt into a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and a thick ribbon forms when you hold your whisk in the air. You want this pourable, not spreadable.

Generously drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Wait 10 minutes for glaze to set a bit, then sprinkle with malt powder and sea salt. Once glaze has set, transfer cake to cake stand, cutting board or large platter.

Slice and devour!

Notes

• If you want to skip the wire rack step, you can. I like to do this to prevent a lot of the glaze from pooling around the plate, but too much of this glaze is NOT a bad thing.
• As indicated in the recipe, if you want to use a cup of hot coffee rather than hot water, it is very good and adds a bit of mocha flavor to this already delicious cake. I have done this many times.
• If you want to make this without the malt powder, increase sugar to 2 full cups.

Photo by Anita Parris Soule. Courtesy Wild Thistle Kitchen.

tagsAnita Parris Soulebakingchocolate bundt cakeWild Thistle Kitchen