Malt Ball Cake

This has got to be my favorite cake... because I love malt balls more than I love chocolate cake! 

Once upon a time when Beyond The Olive was sharing shelf space in Pasadena with Dean and Deluca... we had the dilemma of pulling the Dean and Deluca Maltballs off the shelf because they'd gone past their best by date.  Now who would waste perfectly perfect malt balls?  Not I!  

Ingredients

• ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan - We suggest our Arbosana
• ½ cup cooled coffee, dry red wine, orange juice or water
• ½ cup  Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ cups malt-balls - divided in two.
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts - optional

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring coffee or other liquid to a simmer, then turn off heat. Whisk in cocoa, cinnamon and salt until smooth, then set aside to cool.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, olive oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat for about 3 minutes. Reduce speed and pour in cocoa mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Gradually beat in flour and baking soda until just incorporated.
4. Smash one half of the maltballs with a mallet (in about 1/8 - 1/4 inch pieces) and blend into the batter
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until the sides are set but it’s still slightly damp in the center, 35 to 45 minutes. A cake tester should come up clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.
6. Transfer cake pan to a wire rack and let cake cool completely in pan.
7. Make Icing
8. Ice cooled cake and decorate with maltballs and walnuts

Icing - Chocolate Ganache

• ¾cup  heavy cream
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• Pinch kosher salt
  

Heat heavy cream over medium heat until very hot. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl, and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let stand 5 minutes. Add salt and whisk until smooth. Let this mixture stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until it is thick enough to spread on the cake.