Today we’re celebrating National Tea Day (some could say we do this every day!) as well as The Queen’s Birthday. Of course, it is no coincidence that both events are on the same day – some could argue that this is the most British day of the year!
We had a slice of cake with our cup of tea today in celebration of National Tea Day, and it made me wonder, what is The Queen’s cake of choice? After a little research, I discovered that her favourite cake is a Chocolate Biscuit cake.
Having never tried, or even heard of this cake, I decided it was only right to try it out for myself. Upon research, I figured out that chocolate biscuit cake is very similar to Tiffin. I do enjoy a piece of tiffin so I decided to combine the two very similar recipes to create my own version.
AT A GLANCE:
- Perfect for beginners
- Preparation: 30 minutes
- No-bake cake
- Cooling: allow up to an hour collectively
- Serves: 12
YOU’LL NEED:
- 6” Non-stick loose bottom cake tin
- A microwavable bowl or a pan
INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
250g Biscuits (rich tea is The Queen’s choice of biscuit)
115g Unsalted butter – softened
115g Caster sugar
115g Dark chocolate – chopped
2 tbsp warm water
Icing:
65g Dark Chocolate
65g Milk Chocolate
125g whipping cream
Auds’ tip: if you prefer to use one type of chocolate for the icing, just remove the unwanted flavour and double the amount of the one you’re using.
METHOD:
- Grease and line the cake tin and set aside
- Break the biscuits up by hand, don’t beat too much and create crumbs. Aim for sizes of around 1 cm.
- Add the softened butter and sugar into a bowl and cream until light and fluffy,
- Melt the chocolate – choose to do this in the microwave or in a pan
- Pour and mix the melted chocolate with the butter and sugar, adding the two tbsp of water.
- Add the biscuits to this mixture, covering them with the chocolate mixture.
- Add the complete mixture to the earlier prepared cake tin, and press gently onto the mixture to ensure it is even.
- Place into the fridge and allow to cool for 30 minutes.
- Create the ganache – place the chocolate into the bowl and break it into pieces.
- Add the cream to a pan and allow it to simmer.
- When the cream is warm, pour it into the bowl over the pieces of chocolate and stir. Mix the chocolate and cream until the chocolate has melted and the mixture looks glossy.
- Remove the tin from the fridge, carefully place the cake onto a wire rack and add a tray below to collect the excess.
- Coat the cake with the ganache, ensuring the cake is covered with the chocolatey mix – sides too!
- Allow the finished to set and cool before serving on a platter.
Auds’ tip: royally finish the cake with other chocolate such as curls or scrolls and sprinkles.
Enjoy it with a cup of tea, just as Queen Elizabeth would like it.