Malteser Bunny Chocolate Malt Mousse Pie

My name's Gem...and I'm addicted to Malteser bunnies!! So much so that when I saw them roll around on the shelves sometime in February I grabbed a few bags of the minis knowing they would make an excellent Easter dessert! Wrong! Of course we hunted them out in my baking cupboard one night when we were in need of a Netflix accompanying chocolate fix! Never mind I said, I'll buy more! So it's the evening before Easter Sunday and I ask the lady in Morrison's where their Easter aisle is and she tells me it doesn't exist anymore!! Fortunately they had a few lone bunnies left by the tills so I grabbed those..and decapitated them so they would fit in my tart! Note to self: don't eat the contents of your baking cupboard without assurances you will find back up!!

It wasn't a big deal in the end - half the bunny for my pie the other half for my mouth - everyone's a winner! Except for the bunny I guess.

This Oreo crust takes the pie to the next level of decadence! and the chocolate ovaltine mixed into the mousse gives it that nice malty kick. There was no need for pouring a whole bag of maltesers in the middle of the pie...other than the fact that my mantra is you can never have too much chocolate! you could equally cover the whole thing in cream instead because it is tooth achingly sweet (in the best kind of way) and the cream does help to cut through the sweetness...but please sprinkle a few maltesers on top at least if you do!

This was the perfect end to our Sunday roast lamb feast and it was the perfect sugary fix to get our bellies ready for the sugar coma of chowing down on our chocolate eggs from our egg hunt that was to come!

Malteser Bunny Chocolate Malt Mousse Pie:

Serves 10

Adapted from Beyond Frosting

for the crust:

275g Oreos

6 tbsp unsalted butter

for the filling:

225g cream cheese, cold

60g dark chocolate

1 tbsp unsalted butter

65g chocolate malt powder

115g caster sugar

2 tbsp double cream

for the decorating:

315ml double cream

65g cup icing sugar

7 Malteser bunnies

175g Maltesers

Grind up oreos in a food processor until they resemble fine crumbs.  Melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir in with the oreos.  Press the oreo mixture into a 10" tart pan.  Refrigerate crust until filling is ready.

Remove cream cheese from fridge and beat on medium speed in an electric mixer for two minutes until light and fluffy.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a small microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chunks and butter.  Melt for 30-60 seconds and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Pour melted chocolate over cream cheese and mix to combine.

Add malt powder and caster sugar to the cream cheese mix and beat well until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whip 350ml double cream together with the icing sugar.  Remove 2 tablespoons of the whipped double cream and fold it in to the cream cheese mix.  Cover the rest of the cream with clingfilm and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pour chocolate malt mousse filling into the oreo crust and let set in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Just before serving, remove the whipped cream and put it into a piping bag fitted with a star attachment.  Pipe around the edge of the pie.

Cut the heads off the malteser bunnies, or if using minis use the whole bunny.  Place alternately in the swirls of cream.  Place a single malteser in the other swirls.

Using a sharp knife, chop some of the maltesers in half.  Pile up the half and whole maltesers in the middle of the pie.

Eat and enjoy!

I am sharing this for Cook, Blog, Share over at Super Golden Bakes

Chocolate Malt Malteser Layer Cake

I made this cake for Valentine's Day! I think it's taken me so long to blog about it because it was such a stressful evening of baking! The moral of the story I learnt was when your husband tells you all he wants for Valentine's is cookies...then go with it! Rather than spend $40 on ingredients for a cake (because Vancouver clearly hates baking bloggers) only to have a fight about it with your significant other who you are making the cake for in the first place! whilst trying to clean up your whole house because the next day our family was arriving from England to stay for a week! 

Yeah...cookies would have been way easier! 

Easier...but probably not nearly as tasty as this sour cream chocolate cake, slathered with the best malt frosting in the world! I have been looking for an excuse to make this amazing frosting ever since I made it last year to frost my Malteser bunny cupcakes.  It comes from the queen of layer cakes, Sweetapolita, and I'm pretty sure one of these days I'm going to have to make the 6 layer toasted marshmallow campfire cake that she originally paired this frosting with because being the s'mores lover I am, it looks right up my street! 

Obviously, on the previously mentioned night of baking a 6 layer cake was never going to happen! In fact even my planned 3 layer cake got cut back into a 2 layer cake! and I couldn't wait long enough for the cake to cool down so I slathered on the frosting whilst it was still slightly warm, because it was approaching midnight and we were ready for bed but of course needed to taste a piece before bed and before Valentine's was over! 

Also, in my haste I picked up sour cream at the supermarket rather than buttermilk and so the actual chocolate cake recipe I was planning to use had to be abandoned...and after some last minute browsing I came across this sour cream cake via Hummingbird High and it saved the day...

and was completely moist and delicious even when we were enjoying it 3 days later in Whistler! 

Chocolate Malt Malteser Layer Cake:
Makes 2 8" layers
Adapted from Hummingbird High

3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 3/4 cups caster sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup water, boiling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C.  Grease 2 8"cake tins.

In a medium bowl, mix together the sour cream, cocoa powder, eggs, egg yolks and vanilla extract until smooth.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together cake flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar on low speed until just blended.

Add the butter and half of the wet cocoa mixture to the dry flour mixture and beat until the dry ingredients are moist.  Increase the mixer to medium speed and beat until smooth for 2 minutes.  Gradually add the remaining cocoa mixture, in 2 batches, beating well after each addition.  Add 1/2 cup boiling water and beat until smooth.

Divide the batter equally between the cake tins and smooth the tops with a spatula.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let the cakes cool in the tins for 10 minutes and then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Malted Belgian Chocolate Frosting:

Makes enough to frost the above with plenty leftover, and you're going to want the leftover - trust me!

From Sweetapolita

4 cups icing sugar

2 cups unsalted butter

1 tbsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup Ovaltine powder

8 oz/225g Belgian dark chocolate or other good quality 70% chocolate

1/2 cup double cream

In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine half the icing sugar and butter and beat on low speed for one minute.  While that is mixing, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, and set aside to cool. Add the rest of the icing sugar and butter to the stand mixer and mix on medium speed until completely combined (I do it in two stages so as not to completely cover my kitchen in icing sugar).

Add vanilla and Ovaltine, and beat on low speed until well combined.

Add the melted, cooled chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes). Add double cream and beat on high speed for one minute.

Once the cakes are cooled, sandwich them together with a very generous amount of the frosting.  Apply the same amount, if not more to the top of the cake.  I swished mine around with a palette knife but if you're not in a hurry you can pipe fancy swirls too!

Decorate with Maltesers/Whoppers...and if you're baking it for the one you love you can arrange them in a heart shape in the middle of the cake like I did!

Eat and enjoy!

Your Tastiest Treats of 2012!

So 2012 is nearly over, and when you read this I will be ringing in the New Year at Whistler! I can't wait! That place has become like our second home this past month, and I couldn't be happier about that because truly it's one of the most beautiful places on Earth!

For now, let's take a trip down memory lane and see the posts which were your favourite this year!

10. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Layer Cake

This was probably my favourite of 2012 (and hopefully Byron's too, since I made it for his birthday!) It's probably the most decadent layer cake I've ever made, and it definitely took the most time but it was SO worth it.  Chocolate chip studded cake, sandwiched with chocolate fudge and raw cookie dough, surrounded in cookie dough flavour frosting and finished off with more cookies - this time baked ones! If you have any cookie lovers birthday's coming up, this is worth the effort!

9. Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart

You just can't get enough of the South African treats! and despite me having a mishap when removing the base of my springform tin and the side of the biscuit crust caving in it's still a hit! How can it not be when you combine creamy layers of caramel whipped with cream with layers of coconut biscuits and those crystal shards of minty-ness that comprise my favourite chocolate bar - Peppermint Crisps! and the good news is on the bus the other day I saw a South African shop has just opened on West 4th so now I can get my Peppermint Crisp fix in Vancouver too! 

8. S'mores Cupcakes

I made these S'mores cupcakes for our New Year's eve party last year! Graham cracker flavour cupcakes, with marshmallow frosting and cubes of chocolate on top - they were devoured pretty quick! I haven't even had to bake a special treat for this New Year's since we have enough sweet treats left over from Christmas to see us through the next 2 weeks!!

7. Malteser Bunny Cupcakes

If you only make these cupcakes to check out this 'to-die-for' frosting then it will be worth it.  This chocolate-malt frosting turned out to be my most favourite frosting of 2012, I could eat it by the spoonful...and I did! The malt flavour cupcakes are pretty special too, and to top it all off you just have to complete it with mini Malteser Bunnies (if you live in the UK...I'm pretty sure you won't find them elsewhere which is not good news for me...how will I get my fix come Easter!)

6. Chocolate & Peanut Butter Oreo Cupcakes

This was the first time I ever thought about combining peanut butter frosting with crushed up Oreo crumbs - it was a GOOD decision! Combined with my favourite chocolate cupcake recipe, these two made a fantastic pairing!

5. Cadbury's Creme Egg Cupcakes

I made these for an Easter market stall I did.  I made several other flavours alongside these ones but I think these got the most 'oohs and aahs' from people passing by.  Not only does the frosting look like creme egg filling but it tastes exactly like it too!

4. Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry-Lime Frosting

These were a happy little accident that came about because I had loads of fresh pureed strawberry in the fridge just waiting to be used up! We took these to a summer BBQ at a friends house, it was pure blue skies with not a cloud in sight that day (a rarity in Wales!) and these tropical beauties fit right in! The addition of lime in the frosting gave these a totally tropical twist! 

3. Granadilla Fridge Tart

This was a recipe my South African Mom whipped up one weekend, apparently it had been a staple dessert for her growing up.  Why she had been holding out on us for so long I don't know! because this was so creamy and fruity and it's definitely going to be a staple for the Braithwaite's too!

2. Cookies and Cream Oreo Cupcakes

You just can't beat a good Oreo cupcake! Up until I made this, my favourite Oreo cupcake had been a chocolate version with chopped up bits of Oreo in the batter.  However after making this vanilla based Oreo cupcake I realised my chocolate version had been overpowering the Oreo bits...whereas this cupcake lets the Oreo flavour shine through! A new favourite! 

1. S'mores Cheesecake

It pains me that the number 1 most visited recipe on my site this year was the post with the worst pictures!! It was one of those nights where I was rushing, as our dinner guests were waiting for dessert, and I didn't want them to think I was too weird by taking a million pictures of it and making them wait to eat it!! Then I discovered the batteries on the flashgun had run out...and so I had to make do with dark and not so attractive pictures! but I'm glad that didn't put you off because this is one of the most delicious desserts I have ever made.  We all know I love anything s'mores, but this creamy chocolate filling was out of this world and paired with a graham cracker base and a toasted marshmallow topping it is totally dreamy! Of course I'm pretty sure the popularity of this post also had to do with the fact I was doing a cheesecake giveaway too! but if there's one thing you need to make this year it is this cheesecake! and don't forget the chocolate-malt frosting too! They're both going to make you very popular indeed! 

 Thanks to everyone for following along this year, I LOVE when a little email or comment pops up from one of you - it makes my day! and thanks to all you other bloggers for keeping my google reader overflowing with delicious recipes and inspiration! 

Wishing all of you an awesome New Year's and a totally tasty 2013!