Ovaltine Cake

This cake was probably the fastest cake I’ve made! From shopping to plating – 3.5hrs! It was OG’s Dad’s birthday and he mentioned how he’d like a “Kim’s Cake”. (Tee hee compliment! *blush*) The criteria I was given was “so long it's moist”. I previously made this cake when making my Double Rainbow Unicorn Cake. But here comes the confession, this type of cake is not good to stand upright. I learnt this the hard way. At 11pm at night, I had to make a butter cake to replace it as the rainbows. The failed rainbows with its sloppy frosting (white chocolate ganache) went to OG’s family as I knew they love cake and wouldn’t care what it looked like. I had really good feedback on the failed rainbows, so I decided to rebuild this cake but a properly presented one. The birthday boy likes walnuts, so that was the garnish. Nothing extravagant but definitely well received. I think it made a lot of happy campers. 

Regarding the actual recipe, I adapted this from Raspberri Cupcake’s Milo Cake but I used Ovaltine instead. I think with Milo it makes the cake rise a bit higher, the ovaltine cake didn’t rise as much as Raspberri Cupcake’s. Plus I didn’t make the condensed milk icing. With hindsight, I should have halved the ganache recipe too (which I’ve done below).

Ingredients
125g butter -  room temperature
50g (about 1/4 cup) caster sugar
195g (about 1 1/4 cups) plain flour
2 1/2 tspn baking powder
150g (about 1 1/4 cups) Ovaltine (Original recipe calls for Milo or Malted Milk Powder + Cocoa)
3 eggs
120ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and line a 20cm round springform tin.

2. Cream butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and Ovaltine together and then gradually add to the rest of the mixture with the mixer on low speed, so the flour doesn’t fly everywhere.

4. With the mixer still on low, add buttermilk until just combined.





5. Pour into cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. While waiting, make the ganache.

6. Remove and cool in tin for 10 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

7. Place cake on serving plate and spread with ganache.

8. Can be stored in the fridge overnight. Serve at room temperature.




Ganache Ingredients
150ml pouring cream (at least 35% fat content)
200g dark chocolate
1/4 cup ovaltine

Method
1.  Place in a large heat resistant mixing bowl, broken up chocolate pieces. The original recipe said the Milo formed small clumps, so it might be better to try adding Milo to the cream in the saucepan first, however I didn’t have that problem with the Ovaltine.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat cream gently on medium to low heat until it just reaches the boil.

3. Pour hot cream into mixing bowl and set aside for 10 minutes to allow chocolate to melt. Using a whisk, stir until mixture is smooth and glossy. I noticed the fat content in the cream makes it more shiny.

4. Set aside to cool to room temperature, until mixture is thick and only just pourable. If you are impatient, you can chill in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes.

5. Spread ganache over the top and sides of the cake. If the ganache runs right off the edge of the cake, it is not cool enough, scrape the excess ganache back into the bowl and chill for longer. When it is ready, the ganache will lighten and be slightly less shiny, and then you can use a spatula to cover the top and sides of the cake