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!
I am planning to make this for a birthday party Saturday night but just do not have enough time to make it same day. Can I bake this ahead of time and freeze it?
Hi Maria, Yes, you can definitely make this ahead of time! You don’t need to freeze it though if you’ll be serving it within a day or two.
This cake is amazing. It’s a little time consuming but not difficult. I made it twice this past week–the first was a practice cake. I made the first exactly as written because I don’t think it’s fair to review a recipe without following it to the letter, then–and only then–have at it and change it up. The second time around I used two 2″-high, 8″-round pans and cut each layer in half horizontally to make four layers. I had cake, marshmallow, cake, chocolate frosting, cake, marshmallow, cake. I used all the marshmallow and about 3/4 of the chocolate frosting. The cake itself was perfect as written. But I found the frosting too sweet and without much malt flavor. So I swapped out the Ovaltine with one cup malted powder, and subbed out the bittersweet chocolate with unsweetened chocolate. For the marshmallow frosting, I just added about 5 more marshmallows and didn’t flip them over. No need. I also just stirred them in with an oiled spatula instead of beaters. Much less messy. I used the spatula trick to frost the cake and dusted it with Ovaltine. Pretty easy, super tall, impressive cake!
Thanks so much for sharing your adaptations! Sounds delicious!
Thanks for the inspiration! I’ve been toying with the idea of making malted milk chocolate frosting for a while now and didn’t know the best way to go about it. Just made this malted chocolate frosting and it is the bomb! I added about 2Tb of cocoa powder to up the depth of chocolate flavour but that’s just a personal preference. Making the cake now and will post back when I get feedback from my party guests. I’m expecting responses like “epic” and things like that based on the good start I’ve got already. Thanks again!
My marshmallow filling is very runny, will it set up if I let it sit, or should I add more sugar? Thank you!
Hi Becky, Hmmm I’ve never had it be runny. It won’t really set up or thicken as it sits, so you might want to add a little more powdered sugar.
Could I make this in two 8″ pans and cut each cake into three layers if I was careful cutting them? If yes, how long would you guess I’ll need to bake them?
Hi Ally, I’m honestly not sure if there would be too much batter to use only two pans. If you try it, let me know how it turns out. You would need to increase the baking time, but I don’t know for exactly how long, since I’ve never done it.
5/5
Hi, i have a question, i live in france so i don’t really know what you mean by “Ovomaltine classic” ! Is it the powder or the paste, like a nutella texture?
I want to do this cake for my boyfriend’s birthday this week !
Thanks in advance for your answer !!
Hi Tiphaine, It’s a powder – a chocolate malt powder that you would mix with milk or water to make a chocolate malt drink. I hope that helps!
Is powdered sugar the same as icing sugar. I am in USA. Also how does this cake hold up in the heat. Would like to bake this for an outdoor party.
Thanks. Will leave a feedback after trying it.
Hi, Yes, powdered sugar and icing sugar are considered the same thing. It really depends on how hot it is or if it’s sitting in the sun. It won’t be ruined or spoiled, but the frosting on the outside could get quite soft if it’s really hot.
I made this cake for my daughter’s 3rd birthday! It was a time consuming cake to make for me, it’s only the forth homemade cake I’ve done, but it came out amazing! Everyone at the party loved it and kept commenting on how delicious it was. It was worth the time it took to make for sure. I was worried about not having enough cake for 14 people so I added an additional 1/2 of everything so I could make a bigger cake with 9 inch pans. It was not necessary at all. The cake is so huge and tall if I just stuck with the 8 inch pans I still would have had left overs. I made it the night before and wrapped it as best i could with saran wrap, I took it out about an hour before I served it and it was perfect.
I want to make this for a friend that loves chocolate, but I don’t have a huge block of time to make the whole thing at once. What could I make beforehand to break the process up a little without it affecting the cake? Thanks!
Hi Phil, You could bake the cake a couple of days in advance, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature. I haven’t done it, but you should be able to make the frosting the day before and store it in the refrigerator. You’ll need to let it come to room temperature before using it, and may need to re-beat it a bit to get its smooth consistency back.
OMG! awesome texture… although I had a hard time baking… normally I use the cake wraps, but I only had two so just kept it all consistent. I don’t know why, but I was bake-DUMB last night, left out the sugar, until I realized it… then mixed it in… so it is possible that it messed up my whole cake, but I couldn’t help but notice that my cake tasted very flour-y, and kind of pasty- not sure if its a salt /sugar ratio, or something, but I think I need to cut down all the proportions, and make a smaller version to taste-test. I noticed when I tried to toast my marshmallows and then add them to the marsmallow buttercream, the outer shells just solidified and left gelatinous clumps in my fluff… no Bueno. Next time I think I will just use pure fluff. also, I didn’t pick up too much of the malted flavor in the choc frosting, any tips? sorry for the super long comment :) I too am an avid baker, so I shouldn’t have messed up, but yeah it was very floury. everyone loved it, but I have a baker’s tastebuds!!!
When you write “large” marshmallows, does that mean regular sized? I found minis, jumbos at regular sized marshmallows, but am wondering if it is the regular or the jumbo that are required here… Thank you in advance!
Hi Marilou, Yes, regular-sized, sorry I wasn’t more specific!
This is the recipe for the State Baking Contest this year (CT Assoc. of Fairs). I made it today. What a monster! Unfortunately, it’s quite hot here, so my layers were sliding, but it still came out okay. Weighs about 8 lbs. I’ll never get to taste it because it’s going into the competition, but I might make it again without the marshmallow and just two layers. The malted chocolate frosting was amazing!
How did you/your cake do at the fair? Any tips? I’m entering the state competition through the Durham Fair. I’m a newbie when it comes to contests. Any advice would be appreciated, unless, of course, you’re entering Durham too. :)
This is probably a very stupid question since no one has asked it over the years…but when you have horizontally cut cake layers, what do you mean by “face up” and “face down?”
Thanks, and wish me luck!
Hi Amber, “Face up” would be cut-side-up… Hope that helps!
It does, thank you! I’m going to attempt to make it today…wish me (a lot of) luck! Thanks for sharing this recipe; it’s everything my son wanted in a birthday cake. :)
My dream cake!! Look at all those layers! Love that it has toasted marshmallow in it too! Yum!
I made this cake for a cake contest/silent auction for my church. One couple was standing by my cake to make sure if someone outbid them, they could bid more. They won and shared the cake over the next week with numerous folks. So many people told me how delicious the cake tasted! I never got to taste it, but with all those testimonies, it must have been a hit! Thanks for sharing! I always check your blog when I’m trying to decide what to make for dessert!
I made this cake yesterday. Actually 2 cakes. It was not hard to do…had a bit of a problem with the marshmallows because I wanted too long before mixing them. But it is soooooooo sweet!!! It’s so heavy and sweet that my body hurts from sugar overdose:) but my guests loved it. And that’s what is important. I would probably make more marshmallow stuff next time instead of the chocolate. The base by the way was spectacular!!!
I made this cake today for both my birthday and my husband’s and Valentine’s day. My cake looked a total mess on the outside but when I cut the cake the layers are gorgeous. The cake was totally delicious! Outrageously so! I made the chocolate frosting a day in advance. It needed to be re-whipped at room temperature.
Hey Michelle,
Can the marshmallow filling be piped? I want to make peanut butter sandwich cookies with a marshmallow filling but do not know of a good recipe. I am using CI’s Super Nutty PB Cookies, and after I sandwich them with the marshmallow filling, I will roll the edges is chopped peanuts and chocolate. Do you have any ideas for me? I thought that this would be good if I just warmed (not toasted) the marshmallows.
Hi Sara, Yes, that should work (and it sounds delicious!!!).
Thank you! I will let you know how it goes :)
Wow! This cake turned out beautifully. The chocolate layers were perfect and marshmallow filling was amazing. The chocolate frosting was a bit too sweet for me, but I purchased the chocolate malt Ovaltine instead of the plain malt so maybe that had a little to do with it, but it doesn’t matter! it was so good and looked identical to the photo. Thank you! Do you make a similar base cake like this but in yellow rather than chocolate? Thanks again for a great recipe!
Hi Mary, I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake! I’m still working on a yellow cake that I love, I keep trying new versions, but I’m still not there yet. I will be sure to share it as soon as I have it!
Thanks Michelle! Forgot to mention above I made the marshmallow crème recipe too..sooooo yummy!
It is a beautiful cake to look at. I decided to give it a go. I consider myself a experienced baker, but I had major problems with this cake. 1st, the cake layers puffed up while baking and baked very uneven. The toasted marshmallow looked wonderful, but totally clumped and remained chewy when added to to filling. The entire cake was very difficult to frost, the layers were sliding off each other. The cake did firm up in the fridge overnight, but was a nightmare to cut, the layers were sliding and separated when trying to serve. I am baffled by all the good reviews. I did follow the recipe closely, and there is nothing wrong with my oven. Disappointing cake.
I can make these as cupcakes right, & I could fill them will the marshmallow & top with the chocolate malted frosting?
Hi Tiana, I’ve never tried to convert this into cupcakes; if you try it, let me know how they turn out!
Making this today- cake layers are in the oven and my house smells like heaven! I think next time I’ll use 9″ pans though. My 8″ pans are overflowing!
Hi Michelle,
I’v had this recipe bookmarked for years now! I bought the cake tins for this back in 2013 for my birthday.
It’s my daughters birthday on the 31st and I’m finally going to make it. I wanted to ask if I could make the cake layers a day a head then store them in the fridge and assemble the next day?
I’v never made cake layers then stored them in the fridge to assemble later.
Hope I can, thanx : )
Hi Faye, Happy early birthday to your daughter! Yes, you can definitely bake the cake layers a day in advance. Just let them cool completely, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you assemble the next day. I hope you both enjoy the cake!
Six Layer S’mores Cake – The frostings are out of this world. I made it for my husband’s birthday. I think the cake itself could have been better. Answering the storage question. It will not fit in a traditional cake carrier. It is 3 layers of cake plus frosting between the cut layers. I put it on a carrier base and wrapped it in large pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil for storage/transport. Make it for a larger party as it is very, very rich and will go a long way. All came out well, I just prefer a more milk chocolate type of cake.
I sent this recipe to my husband months before my birthday last year (Aug2014) and must have told him I wanted this cake. He went out on his Friday off and bought all the high quality chocolates and other assorted ingredients needed and made this for my birthday. He had NEVER baked a cake in his life and it turned out fabulously! It was super rich…so while I am not sure we’ll do it again in it’s entirety…I would definitely like to try the marshmallow filling again with a less intense chocolate cake and see if that flavor would stand out more. AND, I used the left over choc-malt frosting on top of a “boxed brownie” mix…talk about elevating those brownies…they were SO GOOD! That was the reason I was thinking about this recipe again, as I am making brownies to take to my daughter’s Kindergarten bake sale tomorrow and I am going to make the choc-malt frosting for them. Thanks!
I made this cake for my son’s 21st birthday. It is a wonderfully rich flavourful cake. Broiling the marshmallows worked well, but they deflate and stick to the aluminium making it so they don’t just slide off the prepared surface. Once all six layers were iced and stacked, the “tower” began to tilt. I found putting the cake into the fridge helped, as did sticking a few skewers through the finished cake. Any suggestions as to how to avoid the tilt in the first place?
I just made this for my niece’s 18th birthday and it was probably the best cake that I have ever made… or eaten. Not only was it impressive, it was delicious as well! Even though it says that it is best served the same day it’s made, I refrigerated it overnight and served it the next day (after it had set out on the counter for a few hours). Divine!
This cake is a HOME RUN! I have made it twice now and have gotten rave reviews both times. I wasn’t sure about the Ovaltine icing but in combination with the cake and marshmallow filling, it totally works. I love the satiny smooth icing recipe from your ultimate chocolate cupcakes recipe and may try it as the frosting next time for a slight variation. Thanks for a great recipe and a great blog!!
hello! I plan on making this for my parents’ birthdays (they celebrate them on the same day), but we don’t have Ovaltine in Romania and I was wondering if you know of any substitute (maybe something from Nestle). Thanks!
Hi Christina, Any type of malted powder would work! Enjoy!