Chocolate Tiffin Cake

   

One last indulgence which I made over the Christmas Hols.  It doesn't have to be a holiday to enjoy this tasty cake however, as it goes down a real treat at any time!    

This is a recipe I adapted from a cookbook I picked up at one of those Garden/Gift centres one time.  It's entitled Mum's Favourite Recipes.   They usually have a great variety of books to choose from in those places and they're not very expensive.   Most don't cost more than a magazine, and they have some really good recipes in them.    

This is a common cake you see in the shops over here in the UK.  Basically it is melted chocolate, butter and syrup with crushed biscuits and dried fruit thrown in.  It can vary from recipe to recipe.  

This one uses crumbled digestive biscuits as well as dates and sultanas.   The fruit is soaked in rum first which makes it a bit boozy.   I don't do alcohol so I used rum extract and water, and they came out tasting really nice.  You could add candied cherries, or dried apricots, maybe even some toasted nuts.   The main idea of this cake is mixing the stuff with the melted chocolate mixture and then letting it set up in the fridge.    

  

There is a final topping of melted dark chocolate and white chocolate swirled together.  It also called for crushed malteasers on top.  I didn't have any white chocolate, so I just mixed milk chocolate and dark in the same quanitities, which worked well.  I also didn't have any malteasers, and so I used cripsy cake sprinkles which are chocolate covered rice crisps.   

All in all it was quite nice.   The original recipe called for a 7 inch square pan.  I also didn't have one of those so I used a loaf tin and just cut it into slabs and cut each slab in half to serve.   Scrummy yummy!  

*Chocolate Tiffin Cake*

Serves 8

Printable Recipe  

Quick, easy and delicious.  What more could you want in a chocolate indulgence! 

50g of sultanas (5 1/2 TBS)

75g of dates, chopped (14 pitted dates)

4 TBS rum (I used 1 tsp rum extract and water to make up the 4 TBS)

200g plain dark chocolate (7 ounces)

125g of butter (1/2 cup)

150g golden syrup (3 1/2 fluid ounces corn syrup)

250g of digestive biscuits, roughly crushed (14 1/2 3 inch biscuits, or 2 3/4 cups coarsely cushed graham crackers)

the finely grated zest of one orange

To top:

100g plain dark chocolate (3 1/2 ounces)

100g white chocolate (3 1/2 ounces)

a large handful of crushed malteasers to sprinkle on top (Malted milk balls)

Butter a 7 inch square cake tin and line the bottom with paper.  Butter the paper.  Set aside.

Place the sultanas, dates and rum in a bowl.  Leave to infuse for half an hour.  Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup together in a saucepan.  Remove from the heat.  Stir in the soaked fruit and crushed biscuits, along with the orange zest.  Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top.  Place into the refrigerator to chill for an hour. 

Melt the plain dark and white chocolates separately in bowls set over simmering water.   Pour the melted dark chocolate over top of the biscuit base.  Drizzle over the white chocolate.   Drag a cocktail stick through the chocolates to swirl together.  Sprinkle the crushed malteasers over top.   Return to the refrigerator and allow to chill for a further 2 hours before cutting into wedges to serve.