Malted Chocolate Icebox Cake
Ingredients 2 cups (about 8 ounces) chocolate-covered malt ball candies, plus 16 more for garnish 2 cups whole milk ricotta (see headnote) ⅓ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder 1 cup malted milk powder 2 tablespoons honey ½ teaspoon sea salt 2 cups heavy cream 49 store-bought round, flat chocolate wafer cookies (from two 9-ounce packages)
Directions Place the 2 cups malt balls in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped (about 30 times). Transfer to a medium bowl. No need to wipe out the food processor bowl.
Combine the ricotta, cocoa powder, malted milk powder, honey, and salt in the food processor. Process until the mixture is very smooth, about 2 minutes.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Fold the ricotta-chocolate mixture into the whipped cream. Set aside.
To form the bottom layer of the cake, place 6 cookies on a plate or cake stand, to form a 7¾-inch-diameter circle. Add one more cookie to the center to finish forming the first layer. There will be gaps between the cookies.
Spoon 1 cup ricotta mixture onto the center of the circle of cookies. Use an offset spatula or rubber spatula to evenly and gently spread the layer of ricotta mixture, leaving a little of the cookies on the outer edge exposed.
(Note: The first layer is a bit tricky . . . if necessary, place a little dollop of the cream mixture under each cookie to help hold them in place or use fingers to gently hold the cookies in place while spreading the ricotta mixture.) Once the layer is complete, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons chopped candies.
Repeat this process, gently adding the remaining cookies, ricotta mixture, and candies and ending with the ricotta being the top layer. In all, you should have 7 layers of cookies and 7 layers of the ricotta mixture. Use an offset spatula to smooth the top layer of the ricotta mixture and sprinkle all over the top with more chopped candy.
Decorate the edge of the top of the cake with whole malted milk balls. Transfer the cake to the refrigerator and leave uncovered until the cookies have softened and the cake is easy to slice, about 4 hours or overnight. The cake can be made up to 1 day ahead of time.