I adore a fridge cake, aka tiffin or chocolate biscuit cake.
Just can't resist it — the one at Prêt a Manger has always been my diet downfall. But you really don’t need to buy it when preparing your own is the work of minutes – although you do need to postpone the pleasure of eating it while it takes it time to chill.
You can cobble one together from store cupboard ingredients and, with a bit of thought, can tailor it to your audience. A simple biscuit and raisin-filled version for the younger folk – maybe with some crushed up cornflakes. Choose dark, milk or white chocolate — even orange or mint chocolate. Vary the fillings — Smarties; crushed cereal; any biscuit you fancy; dried fruits and even salted, roasted nuts all work beautifully. Keep it non-dairy and you've got a wonderful parev end to your Shabbat meal which, if it's not all gone, will be just as good for next day's tea.
For a more grown up, Middle Eastern vibe, stir in pistachios, crumbled halva and chunks of Turkish Delight then serve strewn with rose petals. (I first saw that idea in Anne Shooters’s gorgeous baking book, Sesame and Spice.)
And just about any biscuit works — the choices are endless — digestive; Oreo; Hob Nob; petit beurre or a simple Lotus biscuit all work beautifully. Play around with combinations — white chocolate and cranberry are always a winner — and anyone can create their signature recipe.
I didn’t even know I had my own until this week. I’m working with the lovely Simone Krieger of Krieger’s Kitchen on my son’s post-bar mitzvah lunch. We’re keeping it small and simple. A table full of sharing plates for the main course and — because of my son’s super sweet tooth — a buffet of desserts. I was running through her menu and asked about the Lotus biscuit, pistachio and white chocolate slab. “It’s a recipe from the JC” she says.
was. And written by me! (I'd forgotten all about it.) How exciting that not only has she cooked my recipe, but that she is serving it to paying customers. A break through career moment. I’m still smiling as I revel in the nacchas. How exciting to be served my own recipe at my son’s bar mitzvah.
Another chocolate biscuit cake-related story starts with kosher marshmallows that were sent to me recently. Marshmallows were always a truly traife treat. Off the menu for my children, who have long drooled over the idea of S’mores (chocolate digestives sandwiching melting marshmallows heated in a camp fire) and hot choc topped with gooey, melting marshmallows.
The brand sent to me — Dandies — are vegan, hechshered and actually very nice. We’ve been playing with them – in between stuffing them in our mouths. For her Savta and Papa’s anniversary, my daughter used them to make a gooey delight of a fridge cake. We used chopped up Dandies, crushed Lotus biscuits (bit of a thing for them in this house) and raisins in melted chocolate made from a range of uneaten chocolate gifts. The cake was then scattered with little red, icing hearts. It was a sticky, gooey, crunchy triumph, and the perfect use of those pillowy, white treats.
Right - been talking about it for too longe — I'm off to create a biscuit cake.
