Malted Mallow Cake Recipe

Marshmallows. Simple, fluffy, airy treats that seem to find their way into so many different sweets. Hot cocoa? Don't forget the marshmallows. S'mores? Don't forget the marshmallow. Rice Krispies Treats? You get the point. Well, marshmallows managed to find their way into our own cake creation, one that we're calling our Malted Mallow Cake. It's a light and airy graham cracker cake where marshmallow filling meets malted chocolate frosting. No one flavor is overpowering, ensuring each bite is not only well-balanced, but also delicious. Just watch out for little kids and big kids alike - they'll be trying to pick off the roasted marshmallow topping before you even cut into this cake. And make sure you check out this free online cake class offered by Craftsy to make sure you can cut, level, fill, and frost this cake perfectly.

Before You Get Started Making Malted Mallow Cake

Measure/Weigh all the ingredients

Prepare your cake pans

Take butter, eggs, and milk out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F)

Brush up on your frosting techniques with this free frosting class from Craftsy

Malted Mallow Cake Ingredients And Amounts (Yields a 3 layer 6-inch cake or 2 layer 8-inch cake)

Graham Cracker Cake

2 cups (230g) graham cracker crumbs (~15 graham cracker sheets)

1/2 cup (58g) cake flour

2 tsp (7g) baking powder

1/4 tsp (1g) salt

3/4 cup (85g) chopped pecans (we finely chopped the pecans)

1 cup (227g) unsalted butter - softened at room temperature

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp (6g) vanilla extract

3 egg yolks - well beaten - room temperature

1 cup (242g) whole milk

3 egg whites - room temperature

1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar

Marshmallow Filling

1/2 cup (60g) confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)

1/2 cup (114g) unsalted butter - softened at room temperature

1/4 tsp (1g) vanilla extract

1 cup (106g) marshmallow cream - such as Fluff

Malted Chocolate Frosting

8oz (228g) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

2 cups (454g) unsalted butter - softened at room temperature

pinch of salt

4 cups (460g) confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)

3/4 cup (75g) Ovaltine - chocolate malt

1 tbsp (13g) vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120g) heavy whipping cream

Malted Mallow Cake Step-By-Step Directions

Graham Cracker Cake

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

2) Make graham cracker crumbs by placing graham cracker sheets into a plastic bag and crushing them with a rolling pin. You can also use a food processor if you have one available.

3) In a mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Add in graham cracker crumbs and chopped pecans. Mix together well and set aside.

4) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer) combine butter and sugar and mix together for about 2-3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.

5) Add in the vanilla extract and mix until combined. Next, add in the egg yolk mixture in three additions making sure to mix well after each addition.

6) On low speed, add the dry ingredients from step 3 while alternating with adding milk (starting and ending with the dry ingredients).

7) Place this batter into a big mixing bowl and set aside.

8) Clean your mixing equipment well, making sure there is no grease on the bowl or the whisk attachment (If you have another mixer feel free to use it). Once clean, whip up the egg whites that you will later combine with the batter.

9) Start beating the egg whites on medium speed. Once the egg whites are frothy, sprinkle in the 1/2 cup of sugar. Continue whipping until rounded peaks form.

10) Spread the egg whites over the batter you set aside in step 7, and gently fold them together. Divide the batter evenly between greased cake pans.

11) Bake for about 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, rotating cake pans after 20 minutes of baking.

12) Cool cake in the cake pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack and let cake cool completely before frosting.

Marshmallow Filling

1) In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer) combine powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract, and mix on medium speed for about 3-4 minutes until smooth and fluffy.

2) Add the marshmallow cream and mix again on medium speed for about 30 seconds until combined.

Malted Chocolate Frosting

1) On a double boiler or in the microwave, melt the 8 oz of chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted, set it aside to cool as you continue with the rest of the steps.

2) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer) combine the butter and salt. Mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes.

3) Sift together powdered sugar and ovaltine and then add this to the butter mixture on low speed. Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, slowly drizzle in the cooled chocolate from step 1. Once all the ingredients are incorporated, turn the speed to medium and mix until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.

4) With the mixer on low, add in vanilla extract and whipping cream, beating on medium-high speed for 30 more seconds.

Malted Mallow Cake Assembly

1) Stack your layers of cake with marshmallow filling in-between each layer. Wrap cake with plastic wrap and let it settle in the fridge for a few hours.

2) Frost cake with smooth sides and a nice top edge. If you need help learning how to frost a cake, check out this free class from Craftsy.

3) With some extra graham cracker crumbs, make a graham cracker border. Place your cake in the fridge so it's chilled before you begin. Cut a piece of parchment paper long enough to fit around the cake. With the straight edge of the parchment paper positioned in the middle of the cake and covering the top half (secure parchment with a piece of tape), start to pat the graham cracker crumbs onto the chilled cake. When finished, carefully remove the parchment paper.

4) Fill the top of the cake with lots of small marshmallows and then roast them with a culinary torch. If you don't own a torch, just leave the marshmallows plain... it still gives a nice touch to the cake - just be aware that some marshmallows may move around if traveling with the cake.

Malted Mallow Cake Sweet Notes

We suggest finely chopping the pecans unless you like big chunks of nuts in your cake. Finely chopping the pecans also makes it easier to cut through the layers if you want to divide each cake into multiple layers

If you do enjoy a lot of filling in your cake layers, or are cutting each cake into 2 or 3 thin layers, then we suggest doubling the marshmallow filling recipe

If you don't have heavy whipping cream, you can substitute half and half in the frosting instead. Decrease the amount to about 1/4th cup and then add in by the teaspoon as needed. Start slow so that the frosting doesn't get runny

Recipe adapted from Food of Our LIves and Sweetapolita