I love malt balls. They are crunchy, chocolate-covered, and taste of childhood. Sickly sweet to the point where it’s painful. I wanted to take that candy and transform it into a delicious, decadent chocolate cake, so that’s exactly what I did. I made a chocolate cake batter using the malt balls, melted down into ovaltine, and then I also prepare a dark chocolate mousse, dark chocolate-malt ball glaze, and to garnish, meringue sticks, chocolate soil, and crushed malt balls. Because why the fuck not? I named it a campfire cake because it looks like a log that is burning. I don’t know. I could have incorporated orange into it, because there is a campfire cake where you throw an orange filled with cake batter into a fire to bake it, but I’m a lazy person.

For the chocolate cake:
1 cup malt balls
1 cup ovaltine
3 egg whites
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons black vinegar
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt down the malt balls into the ovaltine and brown butter. Whip egg whites with granulated sugar until light and airy. Fold all of the ingredients together and pour into silicone bar molds. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Cool the cakes down entirely before unmolding. Once unmolded, slice off the excess and reserve for the crumble.

For the mousse:
4 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips
a pinch of salt
2 1/2 teaspoons gelatin powder + 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, whipped stiff

Melt the bloomed gelatin into the water and then pour into the seasoned egg yolks. Pour the melted dark chocolate into the egg yolks as well and mix together. Once the mixture has been brought down to room temperature, fold in the cream, then pour the entire mixture into a silicone mold (mine was from silikomart). Press the cake pieces into the mold then scrape off the excess. Freeze solid.

For the glaze:
1/4 cup malt balls
1/2 cup ovaltine
1 cup dark chocolate
2 packets gelatin powder + 1/3 cup water
a pinch of salt

Melt malt balls into ovaltine. Then melt in the gelatin. Pour over salted dark chocolate and then allow the chocolate to melt into the liquid. Pass through a sieve. Heat up to 90 degrees and pour over the cake once the mousse is frozen solid.

For the meringue sticks:
1 egg white
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip into stiff peaks. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe onto a parchment lined sheet. Bake at 165 degrees F for at least 45 minutes.

For the crumble:
Remaining cake pieces
melted butter

Crush up the cake pieces and mix in butter, with a 5 to 1 ratio. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes then allow to cool before using.

To assemble:
Garnish the glazed cake with crumble, crushed malt balls and the meringue sticks.