I was there in the kitchen, with the Sad Little Cake, with just a few hours to go and I needed to come up with some sort of non-sad dessert for eight people.

I scrambled through some of my favorite, most reliable cookbooks. Everything I picked out needed too much time. Cookies are always easy – except they usually need some time chilling in the refrigerator. I thought about some sort of bars, but it didn’t seem sophisticated enough to bring to a dinner party.

I was thinking of a quick chocolate cupcake and at the same time wondering if I should break out one of my emergency Baked mixes, when I decided to go ahead and make the milk chocolate malt cake I’d been eyeing for months.

This is quite a cake. Three delicate layers of malt-flavored white cake, and a wonderful milk chocolate frosting. I was nervous about making a large layer cake with so little time, but the decision was made for me when I realized I STILL hadn’t picked up a third eight-inch cake pan.

So… cupcakes. They aren’t as fussy as a big layer cake, they bake quickly, and the malt flavor is special enough to make up for the fact that I brought cupcakes to a dinner party.

This recipe makes a lot of cupcakes – 36 in all. The cake is delicate and just mildly malt-y. Delicious. The milk chocolate buttercream is light and silky and perfect in every way. I’m glad I went the cupcake route – I was just finishing up frosting them 15 minutes before we had to leave.

Baked to the rescue! The recipe is posted on Food & Wine.

• Milk Chocolate Malt Ball Cupcakes (Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, p. 60)