Don’t be deceived by how easy this is to make – the result is a rich, dense cake with a malted coating. Eat it warm as a pudding or serve it with afternoon tea

• Preparation and cooking time
  • Prep:30 mins
  • Cook:50 mins
• Easy
• Serves 12

• Vegetarian

Ingredients

• 165g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin
• 75g malt loaf
• 150g blanched hazelnuts
• 300g dark chocolate
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten
• full-fat cream cheese
• cream or crème fraîche, to serve

Method

• STEP 1

  Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter a 20cm non-stick, loose-bottomed cake tin. Blend the malt loaf and hazelnuts to a fine crumb in a food processor. Scatter the crumb into the buttered tin and shake it so all surfaces are evenly covered. Pour out the remaining crumbs and reserve.

• STEP 2

  Slowly melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water. In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar on full speed for 5 mins until light and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice to ensure the batter is well combined. Tip in the remaining hazelnut and malt loaf crumb and melted chocolate. Finally, add the cream cheese. Your mixture should be smooth and glossy, like a chocolate mousse. Using a rubber spatula, transfer to your cake tin and smooth out evenly.

• STEP 3

  Bake the cake for 35 mins and then turn the temperature down to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 for a final 20 mins. Allow the cake to rest and cool for an hour before attempting to remove the tin. This cake keeps well, so you can make it up to two days ahead. Carefully slice into wedges and serve with cream or crème fraîche.