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Let's make Queen Elizabeth's favorite cake, chocolate biscuit cake. This easy no-bake cake is made of broken biscuits and a rich, chocolate sauce holding them all together. All you need are a few hours in the fridge for this beauty to set up. Step-by-step photos teach you how to make this no-bake chocolate biscuit cake recipe.
Similar to a chocolate tiffin cake, this chocolate biscuit cake is made up of a chocolate sauce and crushed biscuits and requires no baking.
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, is known to enjoy a slice of chocolate biscuit cake each day with her afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace made by the Royal chef. Prince William also loves this delicious cake and served a chocolate biscuit cake as a groom's cake at his wedding to Kate Middleton.
Let's get to the recipe
Jump to:
- Ingredients
- Instructions
- How to freeze
- Can you double
- More chocolate recipes
Ingredients
- Salted Butter. I prefer to use salted butter with all of the chocolate but you can use unsalted butter. Just make sure to chop the butter into small chunks.
- Good Quality Chocolate. The chocolate you use makes a big difference in the flavor of this, so choose wisely. I like to use a combination of milk chocolate and dark chocolate. I use Callebaut chocolate callets. You can use chocolate bars just chop them into small pieces.
- Granulated Sugar. Just a bit is needed to sweeten the sauce and bring it all together.
- Salt. You only need a pinch, salt enhances the flavor profiles of all of the ingredients.
- Golden Syrup. This is a thick golden sugar syrup. While similar to American Molasses and Corn Syrup there is no true American swap so I suggest getting a bottle of your own Lyle's Golden Syrup, it can be found in many British sections in US food markets and also found on Amazon.
- Double Cream/ Heavy Whipping Cream.The cream just adds a layer of creaminess and richness to the chocolate sauce.
- Digestive Biscuits or Rich Tea Biscuits.I prefer using digestive biscuits but rich tea biscuits work beautifully as well! In an absolute pinch, you could try using graham crackers but I don't suggest it as graham crackers are thinner.
Some people like to add hazelnuts, walnuts, or almonds to the chocolate biscuit cake batter when adding the biscuits. If adding I would use toasted nuts. If you are into fruit then you could add some dried cherries or apricots into the batter as well- you will need fewer biscuits depending on how many fruits and nuts you add.
For the chocolate ganache topping you'll need:
- Double Cream/ Heavy Whipping Cream. The heat of the cream will melt the chocolate for the ganache.
- Good Quality Chocolate. You want small pieces of chocolate so they easily melt with the cream.
- Golden Syrup. Adding a bit of golden syrup adds a nice flavor and creates a shiny chocolate ganache.
You could also decorate the top of the cake with chocolate balls, like Maltesers, or crushed biscuits.
More British desserts we love are Eton Mess and !
For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.
Instructions
In a medium saucepan add your butter chunks and chocolate then place over low- medium heat and stir constantly until everything is melted together. Do not walk away you don't want the melted chocolate to burn, so cutting the butter into chunks and stirring continuously prevents this.
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt, once melted stir in the cream and golden syrup.
Break the biscuits into small pieces, think postage stamp size, then gently fold the biscuit pieces into the chocolate mixture so everything is coated.
Grease a 6inch X 3inch springform panwith butter then pour in all of the chocolate biscuit batter. Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to gently pack it all into an even layer. Some recipes call for putting a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of the cake tin but if you grease it well enough I find you don't need to.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for four hours or overnight.
Gently remove the outer lining of thespringform panand if you want to use an offset spatulato release the cake from the bottom of the pan then use a large spatula to transfer the cake to a wire rack.
Warm the heavy cream, by microwave or stove but do not boil it. Add the chocolate pieces to a bowl then add the warm cream and golden syrup. Let sit for five minutes then whisk to combine, it will take a minute but will then turn into a lush chocolate ganache.
Place a plate under the wire rack to catch the drippings of the chocolate. Gently pour the chocolate ganache over the cake and use anangled spatulato help cover the sides.
Once the cake is covered use the remaining ganache to pour down the sides of the cake to create chocolate drips. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes to set the ganache then transfer to a serving plate and enjoy.
Store the cake in an air-tight container or covered with cling film/ plastic wrap in the fridge for up to one week.If you live in a cool environment you can store the cake at room temperature for a couple of days.
How to freeze
You can freeze slices of the cake or the whole chocolate biscuit cake can be frozen. Make sure you wrap them tightly in cling film/ plastic wrap, twice, then wrap them in foil. If wrapping slices I will place them all in a freezer bag once wrapped in the foil. This all helps prevent freezer burn and the chocolate from taking on the odors of any other food in the freezer.
Let the cake thaw in the fridge overnight.
Can you double
Yes if you want to serve a larger crowd you can press the 2x button on the recipe card below to double the ingredient quantities. Use a 9-inch springform pan and let it chill for a minimum of 6 hours.
More chocolate recipes
This Viennetta Ice Cream Cake has layers of chocolate in between creamy vanilla ice cream, it's also no-bake and absolutely delicious!
Flourless chocolate cake or chocolate cream puffs are such stunners for a dinner party! Trust me on this one, chocolate mayonnaise cake is SO good. Or try my sour cream chocolate cake.
Orange and chocolate go so well together, you will adore this orange chocolate frangipane tart.
★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
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Chocolate Biscuit Cake
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4 from 4 reviews
Let's make Queen Elizabeth's favorite cake, chocolate biscuit cake. This easy no-bake cake is made of broken biscuits and a rich, chocolate sauce holding them all together. All you need are a few hours in the fridge for this beauty to set up. Step-by-step photos teach you how to make this chocolate biscuit cake recipe.
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 6-10 Slices 1x
Ingredients
Units Scale
Cake
- 6oz (¾ Cup) Salted Butter, chopped into small chunks
- 8oz (240 Grams) Good Quality Chocolate, in small pieces
- 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
- Pinch of Salt
- 3 Tablespoons Golden Syrup
- 3 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
- 225 grams (8oz) Digestive Biscuits or Rich Tea Biscuits
Chocolate Ganache
- 4oz (½ Cup) Heavy Whipping Cream
- 120. grams (½ Cup) Good Quality Chocolate, in small pieces
- 2 Teaspoons Golden Syrup
Instructions
Cake
- In a medium saucepan add your butter chunks and chocolate then place over low- medium heat and stir constantly until everything is melted together. Do not walk away you don't want the chocolate to burn, so cutting the butter into chunks and stirring continuously prevents this.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt, once melted stir in the cream and golden syrup.
- Break the biscuits into small pieces, think postage stamp size, then gently fold them into the chocolate so everything is coated.
- Grease a 6-inch X 3-inch springform pan with butter then pour in all of the chocolate biscuit batter. Use a spatula to gently pack it all into an even layer. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for four hours or overnight.
Ganache
- Warm the heavy cream, by microwave or stove. Add the chocolate pieces to a liquid measuring cup then, add the warm cream and golden syrup. Let sit for five minutes then, whisk to combine, it will take a minute but will then turn into a lush chocolate ganache.
- Gently remove the outer lining of the springform pan and if you want to use an angled spatula to release the cake from the bottom of the pan then use a large spatula to transfer the cake to a wire rack. Place a plate under the wire rack to catch the drippings of the chocolate. Gently pour the chocolate ganache over the cake and use an angled spatula to help cover the sides. Once the cake is covered use the remaining ganache to pour down the sides of the cake to create chocolate drips. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes to set the ganache then transfer to a serving plate and enjoy. Store the cake in an air-tight container or covered with cling film/ plastic wrap in the fridge for up to one week.
Notes
* You can double the recipe and use a 9-inch X 3-inch springorm pan.
- Author: Elizabeth Waterson I Confessions of a Baking Queen
- Prep Time: 5
- Chill Time: 4 Hours
- Cook Time: 5
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stir
- Cuisine: British
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