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This Chocolate Biscuit Cake was Queen Elizabeth’s favorite afternoon tea sweet. It was also Prince William’s groom’s cake. It is rich, and very chocolatey, but not overly sweet. The best part is that it’s a no-bake cake!
In honor of Her Majesty’s passing, I’m having afternoon tea while I watch (and cry) her funeral. My tea will include Coronation Chicken Salad, The Queen’s Favorite Buckingham Palace Shortbread Cookies, Smoked Salmon And Cucumber Tea Sandwiches, and Egg Salad Finger Sandwiches. Of course, there will be a few of the Queen’s Dubonnet And Gin Cocktails.
Don’t you love that the Queen was a bit of a chocoholic? I love it! She passed her love of this cake on to her grandchildren, as seen by William’s choice of groom’s cake.
This cake is a simple ‘icebox cake’ or ‘fridge cake’ as the Brits sometimes call it. There are lots of variations of this recipe. You may have seen a similar version that is made into a log and dusted on the outside with powdered sugar so that it resembles a dried salami.
Another version makes a chocolate syrup out of cocoa powder, sugar, water, butter, and vanilla that’s poured over digestive biscuits.
This recipe is right from the Queen’s Royal Chef, Darren McGrady. You can watch him make the cake here.
Rich Tea Biscuits are subtly sweet, crisp cookies popular in Britain and Ireland. They originated in Yorkshire, England during the 17th century for the British aristocrats.
The flavor is similar to the Arrowroot cookies that Americans give to babies for teething. While that doesn’t sound appetizing, the biscuits are delicious and perfect for dipping into coffee or tea.
This Chocolate Biscuit Cake was Queen Elizabeth’s favorite afternoon tea sweet. It was also Prince William’s groom’s cake. It is rich, and very chocolatey, but not overly sweet. The best part is that it’s a no-bake cake!
½ teaspoon butter, for greasing the pan
8 ounces Rich Tea Biscuits
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces granulated sugar
4 ounces very good quality dark chocolate
1 large egg
For the icing:
8 ounces dark chocolate
Milk chocolate frosting for decoration
Lightly grease a 6-inch by 2½-inch springform pan with ½ teaspoon of butter.
Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet.
Break the biscuits into small pieces, about the size of an almond. Set aside.
In a large glass bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and creamy – about 5 minutes.
In another small glass bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each increment, until melted.
Stir the melted chocolate into the butter mixture until well combined.
Stir the egg into the mixture until fully incorporated.
Fold the biscuit pieces into the chocolate mixture until they are completely coated with the chocolate.
Spoon the mixture into the springform pan, patting the cookies down and trying to completely fill in the mold, eliminating any air spots.
Cover the mold with plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours.
Remove the cake from the refrigerator after it has been set.
Meanwhile, in a glass bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each increment, until melted.
Remove the outer ring from the springform pan and place the cake onto a wire rack set over a foil-covered baking sheet.
Pour the melted chocolate over the cake, using an offset spatula to smooth the chocolate and push it over the sides.
Allow the chocolate to set.
Decorate the top with milk chocolate icing in swirls, stars, or shell designs.
Run a knife under the bottom of the springform bottom to loosen it from the wire rack.
Use a sharp knife to cut thin wedges.
Serve at room temperature.
Store leftovers, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator.