High Altitude Vanilla Malted Milk Cake for Easter

A soft and moist vanilla malted milk cake with malted milk buttercream, decorated with a chocolate bird's nest filled with Cadbury mini eggs.

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5 from 2 votes

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings8

Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray the bottoms of three 6-inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, malted milk powder, baking powder and salt.
In another large bowl, whisk together the egg, egg white, buttermilk, melted butter, oil and vanilla extract until smooth.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk until combined, about 10-15 seconds. A few lumps in the batter are okay; take care not to over mix. Divide the batter between the cake pans. Tap a few times against the counter to pop any large air bubbles.
Bake the cakes for about 15-20 minutes, or until a cake tester or a toothpick comes out clean, and the tops spring back when lightly touched.
Set the pans on a cooling rack, cover them loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting. To keep the cakes moist, let them cool in the pans until warm, wrap the warm cakes individually in plastic wrap, then let them cool completely.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
With the mixer running on low, add the powdered sugar by spoonfuls, the malted milk powder, meringue powder and the salt, mixing until thick and combined.
Add the vanilla; increase speed to medium and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down several times, until light and fluffy. Add the milk only if needed for desired consistency. Note that in warmer weather, when the butter is softer, you'll rarely need to add the milk.
For the blue color, add 1 drop of "turquoise" and 3-4 drops "navy blue" while you're whipping the buttercream.
If needed, use a sharp non-serrated knife to level off the domed tops on the cakes. Fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream.

To spatter the cake with speckles, like a speckled egg, stir together the cocoa powder and vanilla extract in a small bowl until smooth, to make an edible "paint".
Dip a small craft brush into the paint, and dab the excess off on the side of the bowl. Use your finger to pull the bristles back, so that the paint spatters tiny drops against the cake. Practice this a few times on a plate first, to get the hang of how wet the brush should be, and how hard to pull back on the bristles. You don't want the brush to be too wet, or you'll get large splotches instead of tiny speckles.
Cover the frosted cake with speckles. The speckles will dry to the touch within a few minutes.
For a finishing touch, I used some of the leftover buttercream to pipe a small beaded border around the base of the cake using tip #7.

To make the chocolate bird's nest, melt the chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl for 2-3 minutes on 50% power, then stir until smooth.
Break a few handfuls of dry rice noodles off the bundle of noodles and add them to the chocolate. You won't need to use the whole package. Use your hands to rub the noodles into the melted chocolate, until they're fully coated in chocolate.
Now you'll need two different-sized bowls to mold the nest. I used a shallow cereal bowl and a small prep bowl. Arrange the chocolate covered noodles in the larger bowl, and then gently press the smaller bowl into the middle.
Let the nest sit until the chocolate has hardened again. This might take a few hours at room temperature, or you can speed it up by putting it in the refrigerator.
Note that it's easier to remove the nest from the bowl before the chocolate has fully hardened, otherwise it may stick to the sides of the bowl. If this happens, simply warm the sides of the bowl with a hair dryer to loosen the nest so it slides right out. You can also line the bowl with wax paper to ensure easy release.
Use a silicone spatula to loosen the nest from the bowl.
Fill the nest with Cadbury mini eggs, and place it on top of your cake.
Tip: The candy eggs weren't very speckled, so I spattered them with some of my edible speckle paint, too.
I recommend making the nest no more than 2 days in advance. Longer than that, and the chocolate may "bloom", developing a whitish appearance.

Leftover cake should be stored in an airtight container or cake carrier, at room temperature, for up to 3 days.

Keyword Cake, Easter, High Altitude, Malted Milk, Mini Cadbury Eggs, Nest, Vanilla

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