Name: Versatile Maltesers Chocolate Cake - Harry Potter Theme, for a Birthday or Many Other Celebrations!
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 28
Cuisine: British, Scottish
Ingredients: 1/3 cup (2.5 oz) butter, at room temperature; 1 lb confectioner’s sugar; 1/2 cup (1.5 oz) good quality unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Barry); few tablespoonfuls of milk to make a piping consistency; 1/2 tsp vanilla; 1 1/2 cups (12 oz) sugar; 1 1/4 sticks (5 oz) butter; 2 large eggs; 1 2/3 cup (7.5 oz) flour; 1 1/4 cups (10 oz) buttermilk; 1/4 cup of strong coffee; 1 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1/4 tsp salt; 1 tsp instant coffee granules; 2/3 cup (2 oz) good quality unsweetened cocoa powder; Maltesers, to decorate (I used over 100 balls for this cake, a good portion of a tub)

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Maltesers chocolate cake is so versatile that it will work with a theme for any birthday, Harry Potter, anniversary or celebration.

This Maltesers chocolate cake has been on my baking bucket list for years!

Well, not this cake exactly, as I didn’t know what I had in mind. All I knew was that I wanted to decorate a cake using Maltesers and it had to be different than the ones I’d seen in the past.

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For those of you in the US or other places where Maltesers aren’t popular (so sorry), they are malted milk balls coated in chocolate. I will say that like many other products, the Maltesers I remember from when I was a little girl in Scotland were probably different than the ones manufactured today.

Harry Potter fan? You’ll love these Hagrid rock cakes, too!

However, (and this is a big, however) they are still leaps and bounds better than the popular US brand of malted milk balls. Those taste like they are coated in candle wax compared to Maltesers, and I honestly cannot eat them.

In fact, I wrote about having a revolution to demand better malted milk balls quite a few years ago!

I’ve been buying Maltesers from Amazon for a few years, but recently, Costco had Maltesers in stock at some of their southern California locations. My Costco warehouse never did get them, but my English friend Sheila, bought a bucket for me at her location. She knew I loved them, and I was thrilled! Cost Plus World Market also carries them in the US.

If you decide to make this cake, or your own Maltesers cake, it’s so easy to make it to suit your special occasion. As you can see, the cake is naked apart from the malted milk balls and buttercream frosting, but just a few flowers around it makes it perfect for a special birthday, anniversary or many other celebrations.

However, you can easily change the theme and make it for a child’s birthday by adding their favorite characters, like these Disney figurines. My sister in law bought them to put on my goddaughter’s birthday cake which I made a few weeks ago (you can see her cake at the very end of this post). Butterfly cakes are another vintage, British children’s party treat!

Harry Potter Cake

I pulled out my son’s old Harry Potter candle to show you an idea for an older child’s Maltesers chocolate cake. The candle has seen its better days, and Harry’s gone a bit green, but I kept it for nostalgia more than anything. I think these figurines would be an option to decorate a Harry Potter cake, don’t you agree? I wonder what JK Rowling would think of my cake? ?

And if you’re having a Harry Potter themed birthday party, you should absolutely have this Harry Potter sweets board happening! Please note, this is NOT called a Harry Potter charcuterie board because there is no CURED MEAT on it. If you see ANY charcuterie board without meat, it is NOT a charcuterie board.

Birthday Cake

What about a much older “child’s” birthday cake, as in someone like me?!

Since the Maltesers chocolate cake already has a lot of visual interest: rows, patterns, swirls, spheres, etc., the extra decor really needs to be kept to a minimum. If you add too much, it will quickly become “over the top”.

For example, I think a sparkler (the type for cakes) or maybe three, would be a perfect decoration, especially for a night time party. Simple gold candles or these lettered birthday candles would be quite nice, too! Just keep it simple.

Maltesers chocolate buttermilk cake

Maltesers Chocolate Cake

using this recipe for the cake (PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (12 oz) sugar
1 1/4 sticks (5 oz) butter
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cup (7.5 oz) flour
1 1/4 cups (10 oz) buttermilk
1/4 cup of strong coffee
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp instant coffee granules
2/3 cup (2 oz) good quality unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Barry)

Maltesers, to decorate (I used over 100 balls for this cake, a good portion of a tub or 2 or 3 small boxes)

Special equipment: 8″ , 6″, 4″ round tins, piping bag and tip, offset spatula, cake leveler, cake plate or stand

Chocolate Buttercream

1/3 cup (2.5 oz) butter, at room temperature
1 lb confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup (1.5 oz) good quality unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Barry)
few tablespoonfuls of milk to make a piping consistency
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350º F (175º C)

Make the Maltesers Chocolate Cake Batter

Prepare cake tins by rubbing with a little butter (don’t put too much, but make sure it’s completely greased) and dust with flour. You can also line the bottom with parchment paper.

In large bowl, beat sugar and butter until blended, then increase speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 6 or 7 minutes, clearing sides and bottom of bowl with spatula every few minutes.

Reduce speed to low and add eggs, buttermilk, coffee and vanilla.

Then add baking soda, flour, salt, cocoa and coffee powder, beating until well mixed, constantly scraping sides of bowl with spatula. Increase speed to high and beat 2 minutes, scraping bowl once or twice more.

Divide the batter between the the prepared pans. I baked the 4″ and 6″ cakes first as they will bake more quickly than the 8″ and I didn’t want that one to fall. Bake the smaller two for about 12 to 15 mins, gently open the door after you start to smell the aroma of the cake to check them. Use a thin skewer or cake tester to check the center; it should come out dry. Then bake the 8″ for about 18 to 20 minutes.

Make the Frosting

While the cake is baking, make the frosting by beating all the ingredients together, except for the milk; add it a little at a time. The end result should look like this.

Decorate the Maltesers Chocolate Cake

Allow to cool slightly then remove from pan and place on rack to cool completely. Cut the top of each cake so that they are level and all the same height. I love this inexpensive tool for the job. Assemble the cake:

Place the 8″ cake on a serving plate or stand and frost the top and sides, roughly. The frosting won’t be seen, so it doesn’t have to be smooth or perfect.
Position the 6″ cake in the center of the bottom cake. Frost the top and sides.
Place the 4″ cake in the center of the 6″ cake, and frost completely.

Before the frosting dries, begin placing Maltesers on the cake. I started at the top of the cake, and just placed one in the middle and added them around until it covered the top (19 balls covers it).

Place one row of Maltesers around the top of the 6″ and 8″ layers, and two rows at the very bottom. Then just fill in the bare spots with frosting piped with star tip (or really any tip you’d like to use). You don’t have to copy exactly what I’ve done as you can use your own creativity and decorate it your way. Just remember to keep the extra decorations down to a minimum. That’s it!

Congratulations, you’ve just made a showstopper of a Maltesers chocolate cake that tastes great, too!

Here’s a pretty non-Malteser chocolate cake you can make similarly. Ice the cake with buttercream frosting of your choice. This time, the icing will show, so make sure it’s not as rough as I showed you for the Malteser cake. Pour chocolate ganache over the top and edges of the cake so that it drips down.

Ganache is 50% chocolate and 50% cream, melt together and allow to cool to a good pouring consistency. Adorn with fresh (home grown, pesticide free) roses, and chocolate leaves, if desired.

You may have noticed that bottle of bubbly in the background doesn’t have a familiar label. That’s because it’s a beautiful 50th birthday present from my good friend Jill from Mad About Macarons! Isn’t it lovely?

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