malted milk chocolate cupcakes.

I clicked on "New Post" to enter a page with a blank rectangular box slightly off-center, nearer to the left to be exact. Blogger users would be familiar with this set-up. I then proceeded to type in the title into the slimmer rectangular box near the top of the page. And then I moved my mouse down and left-clicked, the short vertical line disappearing and appearing and disappearing again at the top left hand corner of the content box. I sat back and thought, thought about how should I begin this post. I had no story of the day to tell, so should I just begin by describing the cupcakes? Or should I start off lamenting again that I had no idea how to begin writing. Surely after 451 posts you can forgive me for running out of creativity?

And then, boom.

There was a blackout, but I guess it could mean a stroke of inspiration too. Suddenly I knew what I could hinge on, and there you have it. My opening lines.

I'm entirely convinced that malt powder makes everything smell better. It might, just might, usurp cinnamon as my number one perfume-by-oven. Need good smells? Stir malt powder in cake batter and bake! But smells don't count for nothing if the cake itself doesn't taste good, and of course these cupcakes were far from blah. It would be great if they were a more tender, but that's just me- I'm just too used to chocolate cake batters using oil.

The more important subject at hand is the frosting. Correction: THE frosting. It is essentially a milk chocolate malt ganache enriched with butter, whipped to an airy and creamy consistency. I mean, how can you not like this frosting? It's not humanely possible.

I also adapted this recipe to a layer cake and added one more component as a filling for the cake layers- a toasted marshmallow seven-minute frosting. I basically toasted marshmallows on a sheet pan in the oven and folded the browned pillows of gooey sugar into a prepared seven minute frosting. Unfortunately, I didn't cook the sugar to the right temperature so the final product was soupy. Luckily after I added the marshmallows it started to firm up a bit. It tasted fabulous though! Toasted marshmallows really add a lot of flavour to what would otherwise be just saccharine fluff.

I should try a malt chocolate cake recipe that uses oil instead of butter. I have a feeling that it will be da bomb.

Malted Milk Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted from Vintage Cakes
makes 24

For the cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup malted milk powder
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 3/4 cups whole milk, divided
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the frosting:
12 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup malted milk powder
1 cup heavy cream
1 stick butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and malted milk powder together.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave until the mixture is melted and smooth. Stir in oil until combined.

Add the chocolate mixture to the flour mixture along with 1 cup of milk and beat until just combined.

Whisk the remaining 3/4 cup of milk, eggs and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour half of this mixture into the batter, beat until combined, add the remaining egg mixture and mix again until everything is incorporated.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out mostly clean, with moist crumbs attached. Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Make the frosting: Place the chocolate in a bowl. Whisk the malted milk powder and heavy cream in a saucepan. Set the saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes. Whisk the mixture until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Refrigerate until completely chilled.

Beat the chocolate mixture, gradually adding the pieces of butter, incorporating each piece before adding the next. After all the butter has been added, beat mixture until is lightened, smooth and thick. Use immediately or chill for a while if too soft.