Six-Layer Chocolate Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Filling & Malted Chocolate Frosting
This year, I resumed my tradition of baking myself a birthday cake. Each year I like to pick an extra-special recipe that I’ve had my eye on and make it sometime around my birthday. Last year, I didn’t make one since I was in Florida and I spent my birthday eating chocolate, playing tennis and having dinner at an open-air restaurant on the Intercoastal. In the spirt of doing a complete 180, this year I’m home in Pittsburgh, watching the snow fall (holy crazy weather!).
In years past for my birthday, I’ve made an Oreo Cheesecake, a Peanut Butter-Fudge Cheesecake and Tiramisu Cupcakes, to name a few. I had originally thought about making some sort of chocolate-peanut butter/peanut butter cup cake this year, but since I gave up peanut butter for Lent, it will have to wait. Then I remembered this amazing “campfire delight cake” that I had seen on Sweetapolita awhile ago, and it seemed like the perfect over-the-top birthday cake candidate. With SIX(!!) layers of rich chocolate cake, a toasted marshmallow filling and a malted chocolate frosting, the cake was an absolute dream. It lived up to the hype and then some, as it is one of the best cakes to ever come out of my kitchen.
Let me tell you, this chocolate cake is intense. The layers are so moist and the flavor is deep and rich, thanks in part to using a high quality Dutch-process cocoa powder and hot coffee to enhance the chocolate.
The toasted marshmallow filling is flat-out genius. Not only is the frosting made with marshmallow cream, but actual toasted marshmallows are added. You get all of the marshmallow flavor along with little bits of toasted marshmallows with every bite. Paired with that chocolate cake recipe, I was pretty sure that things couldn’t get any better…
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Then, along came the chocolate frosting. This is no ordinary chocolate frosting. I discovered the wonderment of using Ovaltine in chocolate frosting when I made brownies with buttercream frosting last year; it adds a malted flavor that is distinct but not overpowering and a perfect accompaniment to the chocolate.
If you want a cake that has some serious wow factor, you must make this cake! Not only is it sky-high and absolutely stunning, but it tastes even better than it looks!
Since it’s my birthday, I’m off to eat another slice of cake :) Cheers!
One year ago: Cinnamon-Sugar Scones
Two years ago: Salted Peanut Chews and Tiramisu Cupcakes
Three years ago: Easy Vanilla Bean Buttercream and Peanut Butter-Fudge Cheesecake
Four years ago: Blueberry Crumb Cake
Five years ago: Caramel-Topped Flan
Six years ago: Oreo Cheesecake
Six-Layer Chocolate Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Filling & Malted Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2½ cups (312.5 g) + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (86 g) + 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) salt
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1½ cups (360 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1½ cups (355.5 ml) strong black coffee, hot
- ¾ cup (163.5 ml) vegetable oil
- 4½ teaspoons (4.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract
For the Toasted Marshmallow Filling:
- 16 large marshmallows
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- 7.5 ounce (212.62 g) Marshmallow Fluff
For the Malted Chocolate Frosting:
- 2 cups (454 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 cups (480 g) powdered sugar
- ¾ cup (93.75 g) Ovaltine Classic
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) semisweet or dark chocolate chocolate, melted and cooled
- ½ cup (119 ml) heavy cream
Instructions
- Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper, grease the parchment, then flour the insides of the pans, tapping out excess; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer (or large mixing bowl if you're using a hand mixer), sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix for an additional 20 seconds (the batter will be very thin).
- Divide the batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for 20 minutes and rotate the pans in the oven. Continue to bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs), about 12 more minutes. Cool the cakes (in the pans) on wire racks for 20 minutes, then carefully turn them out onto cooling racks to cool completely.
- Make the Toasted Marshmallow Filling: Place the marshmallows on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Place on the lowest rack of oven, and broil marshmallows until nice and brown on top, keeping an eye on them the entire time so they don't burn. Remove pan from oven and gently turn the marshmallows over, and broil until the other side is golden brown.
- Beat the butter and powdered sugar on low speed until blended together, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract and increase the speed to medium-high; beat for 3 minutes. Stop the mixer, add the Marshmallow Fluff and toasted marshmallows, and mix on the lowest speed for about 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Make the Malted Chocolate Frosting: Beat the butter and powdered sugar on low speed until blended together, about 1 minute. Add the Ovaltine, vanilla and salt, and continue to beat on low until well combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and beat on medium-high speed for another minute.
- Assemble the Cake: Slice each cake layer in half horizontally so you have six cake layers. Place your first layer face-up on a cake plate and cover with one-third of the Toasted Marshmallow Frosting. Place another cake layer face-up and cover with about ¾ to 1 cup of Malted Chocolate Frosting. Repeat, alternating marshmallow and chocolate filling layers, until you come to your cake final layer, which you will place face-down. Frost the entire outside of cake with the remaining Malted Chocolate Frosting.
Notes
- Cake is best served the same day it is made, but leftovers can be stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator, well-wrapped, for up to 3 days.
- You can substitute marshmallow creme for the Marshmallow Fluff.
- For the cleanest cake slices, refrigerate the cake for about 30 minutes before cutting. Use a sharp knife dipped in hot water (and wiped dry) between each cut.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Hi Michelle, I was wondering if I could make the frosting a day in advance? If so how long can I keep it in the freezer or refrigerator?
Hi Maddie, Yes, you could make it a day or two in advance and keep it in the refrigerator. You will need to re-whip it with your mixture before using.
I made this cake for my bosses birthday today and everyone raved about it!! It is extremely moist and surprisingly it is not too sweet! I wish I could attach a picture cause it looks fantastic! The sticky filling holds the layers in place for a professional looking result. Is a bit of work and a tad expensive but very special looking and tasting! Thank you for this recipe!! I will definitely make it again.
I am a chocoholic, sweet tooth, and I love malt, but this cake is simply too much. The chocolate cake itself is delicious! Dark and fudgy. But the combination of the cake, marshmallow, and malt frosting put this way over the top for me. The recipe intrigued me, so I made it for my birthday. I really hate to be negative. Glad I satisfied my curiosity, but I won’t make this again.
Hi Michelle!!
I know it’s a weird request but is there any way I can omit marshmallows from the filling we can’t have them due to the presence of gelatin in them.. Please let me know if I can omit them completely..
Thanks
Hi Pearl, Unfortunately, the frosting won’t turn out correctly if you omit the marshmallows. I would recommend substituting a different type of filling.
Oh I see.. Which one would you suggest as a substitution?
Hi Pearl, You could use whatever you’d like – a peanut butter filling, a vanilla buttercream, maybe raspberry, etc.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made this cake for my birthday…SO DELICIOUS. So worth it. I’m so bad at making layers though, so mine was only 3! Thank you again!
I recently made this cake and it was DELICIOUS. Everything from the frosting to the cake was awesome. Thank you for a wonderful dessert :-)
I made this yesterday as a two layer cake for a birthday celebration at work and I have to tell you it is one of the best cakes I have ever made (and I’ve made a lot!). The layers of flavor between the toasted marshmallow, the chocolate cake, and the malt frosting was a perfect combination. Everyone raved that the chocolate cake was just the perfect combo of moistness and density and the frosting didn’t overpower the flavor. Even a professed “chocolate-hater” said he loved it. Great recipe, thank you for posting it!!
I made this today as my birthday cake (we’ll be at a baseball game tomorrow, so I made it a day early). Holy cow, was it good. I suck at cutting cake layers, and the finished product was a lopsided mess, but the taste was just amazing.
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi,
Thank you for the recipe, believe it or not this was the first cake I ever made myself! right off the bat it was not easy! But the comments I got from my friends is ” they would manage the shop for me if I start making cakes”! Ok so somethings for all of you that are thinking about making this. 1) It takes a long time because there are 3 main processes you have to do before assembly, so have some patience. 2) you may not find corn syrup or marshmellow fluff, go to youtube and find out how to make it (+ 2 mini processes). 3)The cake is ultra sweet + rich, I reduced the sugar in mine by 1 cup but still got a sugar rush from 1 slice — beware! 4) 6 layers is a bit much I would stick to 4 else it serves about 20 – 30 people! ( did not fit in my cake box as it is taller than standard and heavy!) 7) if you don’t know how to frost a cake … like me .. learn first :P 8) when making the layers if your using a convection oven at 180 degrees do not go over 20 mins I actually reduced to 10 – 12 mins. (tip) layer gets a bit harder after cooling so don’t worry if it is not too hard in the oven. Make sure you cool it down to room temp before removing the layer *imp*. thats it … Not sure you will read this post Michelle but thanks again for a great cake! to all if you have any questions I will try and answer it :) pls mail to shadowops977@yahoo.com
Made this cake for a luncheon that I hosted at my home today. AMAAAAZING!! Every bit as delicious as I imagined when seeing the picture. One caution, this dessert definitely takes some time. If you have the time and incentive, go for it!! Totally worth it.
I made this cake last night. I wish I could taste it but I made it for a fundraiser auction. Unfortunately, the icing is too soft to decorate with but it does and would make a lovely birthday/special occasion cake. The cake is very fudgy and fragile but none the less delicious. I will make a second cake.
Do you by any chance know the quantities in grams or ounces as cup measurements in the UK are so complicated..Many thanks.
Hi Rachel, Rosie’s site (from where I adapted this recipe) has the metric amounts: http://sweetapolita.com/2011/02/campfire-delight-6-layer-rich-chocolate-malted-toasted-marshmallow-cake/
I just finished making this. EVERYTHING IS SO YUMMY.
But. my cake slid apart all over the place so I put it in a seran wrap straight jacket and put it in the fridge. What do I do next time to fix it?
Hi Tori, Did it slide during assembly, during frosting, at some other point? You can wrap the individual layers in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so before assembling, which will make them more firm. As for the assembly itself, work with a light touch. Anytime you’re working with a layer cake, you don’t want to have heavy hands.
Hey! I was just wondering- because we don’t really get marshmallow fluff here, what do you recommend we use as a substitute? Is marshmallow cream okay? And if so, should we still use the same amount as fluff and use the roasted marshmallows too?
Hi Emmay, You can use marshmallow creme. If you can’t get it in the store, I have a recipe for it on the site: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/2013/05/16/homemade-marshmallow-creme-recipe/. Use the same amount as the Fluff, and use the roasted marshmallows too.
This really tempted me to make it, until I counted 8 cups of sugar in the recipe. (Not counting what’s in marshmallows and fluff.) How is that possible to eat? I love sweets, but yikes!
I made this cake for a BBQ yesterday and it was a hit! I posted a pic on my FB page and now a friend wants it for his birthday cake. It was my first attempt at a multi-layer cake so i was doubly happy that it turned out. One minor complaint from my taste testers was that it was a little too sweet so I thought I would try dark chocolate instead of semisweet in the frosting next time. Do you have a brand that you would recommend? Thank you!
HI Megan, I use Ghiradelli baking bars for almost all of the chocolate when I bake.
This is such a great cake! It’s just the right mix of all the different flavors and textures. I made it for Easter and it was a big hit, and now I’m making it for my Mom’s birthday tomorrow. Thank you for a great recipe!
This cake looks amazing! What technique or tool did you use to frost it?
Hi Jenn, I just used a large offset spatula with a little pressure while I turned the cake on a turn table-style cake stand.
do you think it would be possible to do this cake in a sheet cake form, with less layers (a total of four, using 2 9×13 pans)? If so how would you adjust the cooking time?
Hi Sarah, You could definitely try it! I haven’t made the cake that way, so I can’t give you a precise cooking time or guarantee on how it will turn out. If you try it, definitely stop back and share your feedback!
I needed a smaller cake but really wanted to try this. I ended up halving everything, then baking the cake in a jelly roll pan (20 minutes), rolling it up and filling with the toasted marshmallow filling, then frosting the roll with the malted milk chocolate. It’s not as impressive a presentation as the full version, for sure, but it tasted wonderful and the proportions worked very well, except for a little chocolate frosting left over (but who’s complaining?) Thank you for sharing this; I’ll definitely make it again!
Ok so im going to be making a 10″ round instead of the 12″ so would i have to double it still and is there anything else i can use instead of coffee?….i made a test batch and i tasted it
Hi Lauren, I would refer to that page I sent you the link to above. Use the volume capacities to calculate how you need to scale the ingredients, depending on how many layers you are making.
Thank you Michelle I will go ahead and do that
I made this cake over the weekend and it was amazing. definatley a birthday worthy cake. It is delicious. My favorite part is the marshmallow filling.
Hi I am thinking about making this for my sons birthday and I need to make a 12″ round so would I have to double this recipe or make a full recipe and do half of it as well? If you can let me know I would appricate it :)
Hi Lauren, This is a good site for pan sizes and volumes: http://www.thebakingpan.com/baking-tips/baking-pan-sizes.html. This particular recipe uses 3 8-inch pans (21 cups volume). One 12-inch pan has a 15-cup volume. Depending on how many layers you want, you’ll need to do a little math to determine how to scale the recipe.
Hi Michelle,
Thanks so much for the marshmallow creme recipe…gng to make this cake soon and i’ll let you know how it went:) You have a fantastic Blog and your photography is mind blowing!
Hi Michelle,
This cake looks FAB! Can’t wait to try it out:).. I have one question though.. Is it ok if I don’t use the fluff? it’s not available where I live:).. Do let me Know.. thanks:)
Hi Vaish, You can’t omit the marshmallow fluff, as the consistency of the filling will not work, but you can make your own marshmallow creme at home and substitute that! Here is a good recipe: http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/02/homemade-marshmallow-creme/
Made this cake today for my husbands birthday. Everyone loved it. It got rave reviews. Thanks for all the great recipes and pictures. This is my first stop every morning when I turn on my computer.
Can you make the buttercream frosting the day before and refrigerate it or will it not turn out?
Hi Lindsay, You can, but you’ll just need to re-whip it before frosting the cake.
I made this cake last week and it turned out better than I would have imagined! My boyfriend does not eat chocolate cake but he absolutely loved the flavor combinations. And I used Hershey’s regular cocoa powder instead of the dutch process powder. I still got wonderful results! Thanks for the great recipe.
I made two batches of this yesterday…one batch for layer cake and one batch for cupcakes. It is deliciously decadent. For the cupcakes I piped the roasted marshmallow filling into the middle of the cupcakes then piped a nice amount of the malted chocolate on top. Thanks for the recipe.
I wanted to try this recipe for my daughter’s first birthday, however, I have 50+ people attending. If I made this into a rectangular 4-layer cake, would it make a difference?
Hi Amber, I’m not sure what type of “difference” you’re asking about. You may need to adjust the ingredient amounts and baking time based on the size of your pans.
I was wondering if having four layers and maybe thicker filling would change the taste of the cake at all. Thanks for your help.
Nope, no difference in taste!
Sorry Michelle, one more question. I’m sorry if my questions seem silly but I haven’t been baking for very long! Would using espresso instead of coffee be alright? Would I need to adjust anything, like the amount I add to the cake?
It would have a much stronger flavor. You would use the same amount, but it might be slightly overpowering in the cake. You don’t want to actually taste the coffee, just let it enhance the chocolate.