Chocolate biscuit cake is a no-bake tea cake recipe made with layers of digestive cookies and chocolate ganache, similar to an icebox cake or the Brazilian Palha Italiana. Ours is made with 5 ingredients and is rich and scrumptious (almost like a KitKat candy bar, in cake form).
How about a quick and easy dessert that requires no baking?
Moreover, it is something made with simple ingredients that you may have in your pantry and is budget-friendly.
It sounds pretty good to me... and as a bonus, it will satisfy your cravings!
Serve it any time of the year! If you want to go fancy, add some nuts or dried fruits and take this simple dessert to a whole new level.
It is said to be one of the late Queen Elizabeth's favorite desserts.
Our gluten-free vegan recipe is an adaption of the classic and uses dark chocolate (which has antioxidants and reduced sugar), digestive biscuits, coconut oil, coconut cream, and maple syrup.
It is a healthy-ish and clean-eating recipe!
Also, it's dairy-free! But you can make yours using milk chocolate, heavy cream, butter, and cookies of your choice.
Table of Contents
What is a Chocolate Biscuit Cake?
Also known as tiffin (meaning a light meal or snack), chocolate biscuit cake is a type of no-bake cake made with layers of broken digestive biscuits (mildly sweet cookies) folded into a chocolate mixture which is chilled and then coated in chocolate ganache.
Similar to an American icebox cake, it is also present in Irish, English, Bulgarian, Danish, Arabic, and Jewish cuisines.
It is refrigerated instead of baked. Technically, it is not a cake -- in fact, the only thing reminiscent of a cake is the shape and the tin it's made in.
There are variations that call for dried fruit, nuts, and even candy like Maltesers.
The Italians have a similar version shaped like a log, which is called chocolate salami (salame di cioccolato) while the Brazilian have 'palha italiana' and the Malaysian have 'batik cake'.
The British version is often served with a cup of tea.
Ingredients and Substitutions
To make this biscuit cake you'll need:
FOR THE CHOCOLATE BISCUIT CAKE
- 7 oz digestive biscuits (if you want, it can be keto, gluten-free, or vegan biscuits/cookies, depending on your diet)
- 1 cup freeze-dried raspberries (plus extra to crush onto a powder and garnish the top of the cake), OPTIONAL. You can use toasted crushed nuts if you want!
- 10.5 oz dark chocolate (if you have a sweet tooth, use milk chocolate) -- I used Lindt chocolate bars
- 5.3 oz coconut cream (or the thick layer from canned coconut milk, or heavy whipping cream)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil (or unsalted butter)
- ½ cup maple syrup (or honey), but if using milk chocolate, skip the sweetener. You may have to add a little more heavy cream or cream of coconut.
FOR THE DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE
- 3.5 oz (100 g) dark chocolate (or milk or semisweet chocolate)
- 1.8 oz (50 g) coconut cream (the thick layer from canned coconut milk, or heavy whipping cream)
Equipment
- Double boiler, or microwave
- Loaf tin
- Chef's knife
- Cutting board
- Large bowl
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE BISCUIT CAKE
- Line a 6 x 3 ½-inch loaf tin with parchment paper with the sides overlapping and set aside.
- MAKE THE BISCUIT CAKE: Using a knife, break the biscuits into 2-inch pieces and reserve. PIC. 1
- Measure a cup of freeze-dried raspberries and chop them roughly with a knife. Then, mix them with the biscuit pieces in a large bowl. PIC. 2
- Using a double boiler, melt the dark chocolate with the coconut cream and stir to become a homogeneous, smooth mixture.
- Once melted, remove from the heat, and add in the coconut oil and maple syrup (if using), stirring well until smooth. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate in the microwave, according to the package instructions, and mix in the coconut cream, coconut oil, and maple syrup. PIC. 3
- ASSEMBLE: Pour a bit of chocolate at the bottom of the lined pan. Then, arrange the biscuits in layers, pouring the chocolate mixture over each biscuit layer as you go on. Finish with a layer of the chocolate mixture and shake the pan gently to level the layers. PIC. 4
- REFRIGERATE: Leave to cool at room temperature, cover with plastic wrap, and then transfer to the fridge for 4 hours, or until set.
- MAKE THE GANACHE: When the chocolate biscuit cake has set, make the chocolate ganache the same way you melted the chocolate and coconut cream - either using a double boiler or in the microwave.
- GARNISH AND SERVE: Pour the ganache on top of the cake and gently smooth it out with an offset spatula. Transfer back to the fridge to cool for 4 hours or until set. PIC. 5
- Garnish the top with the berry powder and some fresh mint leaves if you want, and slice. Enjoy! PIC. 6
Tips for Making the Best Biscuit Cake
- You can use any cake pan: round, square, loaf pan, or rectangular, adjusting the recipe to the size of your pan. But whatever shape your pan is, make sure to be deep in order to arrange alternate layers of biscuits and melted chocolate.
- You may add toasted chopped nuts, chopped dried fruits, or freeze-dried raspberries like I did but keep the amounts of chocolate, coconut oil, maple syrup, and coconut cream the same as in our recipe.
- It is key to chop the biscuits and make the melted chocolate smooth.
- The quality of the chocolate will affect the taste of this dessert.
- You can use any other type of biscuits you want such as Bischoff, Maria cookies, vanilla wafers, and Graham crackers.
- Be patient enough to let your layered chocolate biscuit cake set in the fridge.
STORAGE
Store leftover chocolate biscuit cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up 5 days.
Freeze for up to 2 months. For the latter, wrap either slices or the whole cake tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil. If wrapping slices, also place them all in a large freezer bag to avoid freezer burn and the chocolate from absorbing odors of any other food in the freezer.
To defrost, let the cake thaw in the fridge overnight.
OTHER CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPES
- Death by chocolate cake
- Dairy-free chocolate cake
- Easter chocolate cake
- Flourless chocolate cake
- Chocolate cake roll
- Brigadeiro cake
- Chocolate fudge cake in a mug
- Chocolate lava mug cake
PIN & ENJOY!
Chocolate Biscuit Cake
Equipment
- 1 microwave or double boiler
- 1 Loaf tin
- 1 Chef's knife
- 1 cutting board
- 1 large mixing bowl
Ingredients
FOR THE CHOCOLATE BISCUIT CAKE
- 7 oz digestive biscuits if you want, it can be keto, gluten-free, or vegan biscuits/cookies, depending on your diet
- 1 cup freeze dried raspberries plus extra to crush onto a powder and garnish the top of the cake, OPTIONAL. You can use toasted crushed nuts if you want!
- 10.5 oz dark chocolate if you have a sweet tooth, use milk chocolate -- I used Lindt chocolate bars
- 5.3 oz coconut cream or the thick layer from canned coconut milk, or heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or unsalted butter
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey, but if using milk chocolate, skip the sweetener. You may have to add a little more of heavy cream or cream of coconut.
FOR THE DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE
- 3.5 oz dark chocolate (or milk or semisweet chocolate)
- 1.8 oz coconut cream (the thick layer from canned coconut milk, or heavy whipping cream)
Instructions
- Line a 6 x 3 ½-inch loaf tin with parchment paper with the sides overlapping and set aside.
- MAKE THE BISCUIT CAKE: Using a knife, break the biscuits into 2-inch pieces and reserve.
- Measure a cup of freeze-dried raspberries and chop them roughly with a knife. Then, mix them with the biscuit pieces in a large bowl.
- Using a double boiler, melt the dark chocolate with the coconut cream and stir to become a homogeneous, smooth mixture.
- Once melted, remove from the heat, add in the coconut oil and maple syrup (if using), stirring well until smooth. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate in the microwave, according to the package instructions, and mix in the coconut cream, coconut oil, and maple syrup.
- ASSEMBLE: Pour a bit of chocolate at the bottom of the lined pan. Then, arrange biscuits in layers, pouring the chocolate mixture over each biscuit layer as you go on. Finish with a layer of the chocolate mixture and shake the pan gently to level the layers.
- REFRIGERATE: Leave to cool at room temperature, cover with a plastic wrap, and then transfer to the fridge for 4 hours, or until set.
- MAKE THE GANACHE: When the chocolate biscuit cake has set, make the chocolate ganache the same way you melted the chocolate and coconut cream - either using a double boiler, or in the microwave.
- GARNISH AND SERVE: Pour the ganache on top of the cake and gently smooth it out with an offset spatula. Transfer back to the fridge to cool for 4 hours or until set. Garnish the top with the berry powder and some fresh mint leaves if you want, and slice. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
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Dena B says
I had some leftover milk chocolate chips but I used Nilla cookies instead of digestive biscuits. I don’t regret to have given this chocolate biscuit cake a try. It came out so good. I decorated the top with some fresh berries and looked elegant without breaking the bank.