I absolutely love celebrating birthdays. It all started with my boarding school. Birthdays were particularly special when we were growing up there. The entire dormitory would put all this effort into celebrating the day with the little resources we had. We weren’t allowed to keep any food from home so we would make these birthday cakes with our morning biscuits and a fudge made with school-issued Horlicks! Sometimes we’d sneak in some chocolate that someone ‘illegally’ saved from a weekend outing. This recipe is in memory of that birthday cake. It may not sound all that great now but to an always-hungry boarding school student, it was the best birthday cake ever!
These are the fluffiest little clouds of malt flavoured cupcakes you’ll ever have! I’ve gone for Horlicks but you’re welcome to use any malt powder you like. I decided against the chocolate flavoured one though because I didn’t want the chocolate to overpower the malt flavour. Besides, I’ve also included a recipe for a marvellous chocolate ganache that’s great to top the cupcakes with.
If you have a bigger oven and a larger crowd to feed, you’re more than welcome to double the recipe. However, I like to work in smaller batches since that accommodates every type of baker. I have the Wonderchef 19L OTG which is super compact and portable. It’s incredibly light so you can easily prop it up on your counter when you need to use it and pack it away when you’re done. Thanks to smaller, more affordable appliances like these, baking is so much more accessible than it used to be. I also particularly love the clean toughened glass door. My previous oven had a door with a design on it and it totally ruined my pictures of rising cupcakes!
This is a one bowl recipe, you dump most of the ingredients together in a bowl and just beat away till they come together! I tried beating the sugar and butter together and then adding everything step-by-step but honestly, I didn’t find much of a difference in this particular recipe. Besides, I’m all for making things easier! Since there’s only one step of beating everything together I’d suggest investing in a good hand mixer. Keeping with our theme of affordable kitchen equipment, I love that Wonderchef has hand mixers in every price range, from the Acura Plus Hand Mixer all the way up to the Crimson Edge Hand Mixer. Something for everyone!
While I have included a recipe for chocolate ganache, these cupcakes are amazing just by themselves as well. Despite being inspired by a birthday cake, my favourite way to enjoy them is with a cup of tea!
RECIPE CARD
Makes: 6 cupcakes
Time: 50 min + resting time 2-3 hours
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp Horlicks or any malt powder
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp softened butter
- 1 egg
- ¼ tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp whole milk
- Chocolate Ganache:
- 80g dark chocolate
- 80 ml fresh cream (About ⅓ cup)
- 1 tbsp Horlicks
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 170c.
- Line a 6-cupcake tray with cupcake liners and set aside.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, Horlicks, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
- Add the white and brown sugar to the bowl and stir.
- Add the butter and egg to the bowl and beat for 1 minute.
- Once the batter comes together add the vanilla and milk and beat for another 30 seconds.
- Divide the batter evenly amongst the 6 cupcake moulds.
- Transfer the cupcake mould to the pre-heated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes. The tops should spring back when pressed and a toothpick inserted to the centre should come out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before decorating.
Chocolate Ganache:
- Chop the chocolate bar into small cubes and place into a bowl along with the Horlicks powder.
- Pour the cream into a pan and place over medium heat.
- Once the cream is hot, but not boiling, pour it over the chocolate.
- Let it rest for 2-3 minutes.
- Whisk until the ganache is smooth.
- Set aside to cool for 2-3 hours.
- Once cooled, use an offset spatula to spread over cupcake tops.
Author: Sneha Sundar is the creator of You Dim Sum, You Lose Some; a philosophy she adopts both in and out of the kitchen.
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