Marble Malt Cake with Peanut Butter Malt Frosting

Welcome to the reinstatement of Peanut Butter and Chocolate Saturdays for this year’s college football season! Technically today is International Bacon Day, but I did not realize this fact until after preparing the recipe for today. Otherwise it would’ve been a PB+Choc+BACON recipe. But I digress.

I am not sure what it more exciting, the prospect of watching college football all day every Saturday, or having an excuse to whip up baked goods involving the best food combination ever? Today I have the honor of being a bridesmaid in one of my best friends’ wedding and therefore will not be partaking in the day’s football festivities, but I will have an emergency stash of buckeye candies with me. It’s in Cleveland, OH after all, totally acceptable to bring a stash to the wedding.

To kick things off, I am sharing a layer cake with you today. Inside it is a malted marble cake, which gets frosted with a malted peanut butter frosting, with some crushed peanut butter malt balls in the middle layer, and topped with even more peanut butter malt balls! It that enough malt for you? My cake decorating skills still need some work, but hey you gotta make layer cakes to get better at them.

Oh and my Ohio State Buckeyes are pre-season ranked #2 in the AP poll. Kind of makes me nervous since we were ineligible for a bowl game last year, and therefore didn’t get a true feel for how good we were last year. Regardless I’m sure it’ll be an emotional season like always. After all we’re not crazy, we’re nuts! Hah ha, I crack myself up.

Two years ago: Stone Fruit Hand Pies

MARBLE MALT CAKE WITH PEANUT BUTTER MALT FROSTING

Serves 12

Ingredients:

CAKE

2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vanilla malted milk powder

5 eggs

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp milk

1/3 cup cocoa powder

FROSTING

3 sticks (1-1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup creamy peanut butter

4-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1/2 cup vanilla malted milk powder

Pinch  salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbsp heavy cream

2 cups Reeses peanut butter malted milk balls (1/3 cup of it chopped)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans, set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter on high until creamy, 2 minutes. With the machine on, gradually add the sugar and beat, scraping the bowl, until fluffy, 8 minutes. Blend in the malted milk powder. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk. Mix until smooth.
4. Transfer 2 cups of batter to another bowl; stir in cocoa powder. Divide and pour the remaining yellow batter into prepared pans cake pans. Spoon blobs of cocoa batter on top of the yellow batter. Using a butter knife, swirl in the cocoa blobs. Bake for 35 minutes; invert and let cool on a rack.
5. To make the frosting, combine the butter and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar, malted milk powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the vanilla and cream just until incorporated. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and whip until light and very fluffy, about 4 minutes.
6. Place one cake, rounded side up, on a cake stand. Spread with 1 cup frosting. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup chopped peanut butter malted milk balls. Top with the remaining cake, flat side up. Spread with the remaining frosting and decorate with more candies.

Source: Cake adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray. Frosting adapted from Everyday Annie.