This cake is more than just a dessert.
It represents success and failure, and above all it celebrates small victories. It also tells the story of experimentation, resilience, and a few kitchen mishaps that led to something delicious.
Spoiler: I am the cake.
I baked this cake three times before I got it right. One attempt even resulted in a small oven explosion, and another looked like a slow-moving lava flow for nearly an hour. Through those trials I learned an important lesson about malt powder: it loves to mingle with milk before joining the batter. When the malt is happy, it transforms the cake and deepens the chocolate flavor in the most delightful way.
After a few experiments and many exclamation marks, this recipe became a celebration bundt. I baked it just days before receiving news that made me burn a batch of cookies out of pure surprise.
Butter Me Up Brooklyn was nominated as one of six Best Baking and Desserts Blogs in the 2012 Saveur Best Food Blog Awards. That was a thrilling moment—one worth a billion exclamation marks.
This cake is for you: thank you for reading, for following along, and for looking at photos from my tiny kitchen. Your support matters.
This is, quite literally, a cake following its dreams.
Less than a year before this cake existed, I left my job at The Metropolitan Museum of Art to pursue baking full time. Chasing that dream means thinking about butter and sugar most of the day, with a few other life bits squeezed in. Success, failure, and celebration all overlap in this chocolate malted bundt cake, and it somehow captures all of those feelings.
My kitchen counter is tiny: the stove on the left, the sink on the right, and a very small workspace in between. Luckily this recipe needs only two bowls, a spoon, and a bundt pan—perfect for cramped quarters.
If a bundt cake sticks, don’t panic. Let the cake rest in the pan for 30 to 45 minutes, then invert it. Properly buttering and dusting the pan with cocoa (or flour for lighter cakes) helps prevent sticking.
The chocolate malt glaze gives this cake an elevated finish—perfect for celebrations or just because it’s Tuesday.
Chocolate Malted Bundt Cake
Makes one bundt cake
1 1/2 cups (187 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (30 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (110 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking soda
1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
2/3 cup (160 ml) milk
2/3 cup (84 grams) malt powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) espresso powder (optional)
2/3 cup (160 ml) vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2/3 cup (180 grams) sour cream
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Generously butter a bundt pan and dust it with cocoa powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, malt powder, and espresso powder until the malt dissolves. Whisk in the oil and eggs until smooth. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir the vanilla into the sour cream, then gently fold it into the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 35–40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake rest in the pan for 30 to 45 minutes to avoid sticking. Invert onto a serving plate and top with the malted chocolate frosting below.
Malted Chocolate Frosting
Makes enough for one bundt cake
1/4 cup (32 grams) malt powder
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
1/4 cup (15 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 60 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (250 grams) powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
In a medium bowl, whisk together the malt powder, milk, and cocoa. Let it sit a few minutes until the malt dissolves. Add the softened butter, powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt, then beat until smooth and spreadable. Drizzle or spread over the cooled bundt.
