The other week I made Joy the Baker’s salty and malty rice krispie treats to bring along to a D&D session with my mates, and had to buy a tin of malted milk powder for the recipe. The almost-full tin’s been sitting on the kitchen bench ever since, and I’ve been pondering what to do with it.
In the end, I went with cupcakes.
Vanilla malt cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes
- 200g unsalted butter, softened
- 300g caster sugar
- 70 grams malted milk powder
- 3tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 400g self raising flour
- 1 cup milk
For the icing
- 140g unsalted butter
- 200g icing sugar, sifted
- 80g malted milk powder
- 2tsp vanilla extract
Method:
For the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 180°c and line 24 muffin tins with patty pans (lining the tins is always Arty’s job – below you can see him doing it with flair, while wearing a particularly lurid shade of lipstick that he tried on at the chemist earlier in the day)
![vanilla malt cupcakes from mama finch 2]()
- Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla in your mixer.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly between each one.
- Add flour, malted milk powder, and milk a bit at a time, alternating between the two as you go.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cooked through, and slightly golden on top.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before icing.
For the icing
- Beat the butter and vanilla until creamy.
- Add the icing sugar and malt in three batches, mixing in thoroughly between each addition.
- Continue to beat until all the sugar has fully dissolved.
- Apply to cupcakes in whatever manner you like. I piped mine, and my mum said they looked like anaemic poos, so maybe slapping it on with a spatula would produce a better result.
These smell amazing, and taste better.
There’s something almost savoury about malt that hits a similar flavour-spot to salted caramel. It’s lighter, less cloying, but still has a little complexity, especially when enhanced by a decentish hit of vanilla.
I bought Maltesers to decorate these… but I ate them… Sorry not sorry!