{"id":1070,"date":"2011-05-23T03:04:54","date_gmt":"2011-05-23T11:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/?p=1070"},"modified":"2025-09-05T12:09:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T20:09:36","slug":"chocolate-biscuit-cake-fit-for-a-prince","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/?p=1070","title":{"rendered":"Chocolate Biscuit Cake:  Fit for a \u2026 Prince!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/wp-content\/images\/chocolate-biscuit-cake.jpg\" alt=\"Chocolate Biscuit Cake\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As you&#8217;ve undoubtedly heard,  Prince William induced a raised royal eyebrow or two with his request that the royal wedding feast include a groom&#8217;s cake based on a favorite childhood tea-time treat, chocolate biscuit cake \u2014 groom&#8217;s cakes are an American tradition, not an English one. But one bite of this festive, decadent creation and you&#8217;ll understand why HRH considered it an essential addition!  <\/p>\n<p>As with many simple, good desserts there are many variations on the recipe.  This one includes brandy-spiked  raisins and crunchy toasted hazelnuts, but you could use any chopped dried fruit and toasted nuts \u2014\u00a0or none at all. <\/p>\n<p>A couple of notes on ingredients: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It&#8217;s essential to use a good-quality, high-percentage chocolate: lower percentage chocolate is too sweet, and lacks enough cocoa solids to firm up correctly. <\/li>\n<li>Do not substitute Vanilla Wafers for the butter biscuits \u2014 they are too sweet and cakey-textured.  Nor will graham crackers work, their flavor is too sweet and pronounced. If butter biscuits aren&#8217;t available, look for British digestive biscuits, or Mexican Galetas Marias.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>&mdash; One 8-inch cake, serving at least 12.  The Biscuit Cake is quite rich, so a small slice usually suffices. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>*Items marked in <span class=\"ingredient\">green<\/span> are available from The Gourmet Corner.<\/p>\n<p><H3>Ingredients<\/H3><\/p>\n<p><strong>Biscuit Cake<\/strong><br \/>\n<em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2 (130 g)  packages <span class=\"ingredient\">St Michel Galettes au Buerre<\/span> <\/li>\n<li>1\/2 cup g raisins, soaked overnight in 4 Tbs brandy (for an alcohol-free cake, either don&#8217;t soak the raisins and increase the cream to 1 cup, or soak in 1\/4 cup orange juice)<\/li>\n<li>85 g chopped toasted <span class=\"ingredient\">skinless hazelnuts<\/span><\/li>\n<li>1 cup cream<\/li>\n<li>2 Tbs Lyles Golden Syrup (use honey if Lyle&#8217;s isn&#8217;t available)<\/li>\n<li>2 Tbs (1 oz) <span class=\"ingredient\">\u00c9chir\u00e9 unsalted butter<\/span><\/li>\n<li>16 ounces (about 2 1\/2 cups) <span class=\"ingredient\">Cacao Noel Noir 72% calets<\/span><\/li>\n<li>1 tsp vanilla extract<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/em\n\n<strong>Chocolate Glaze<\/strong><br \/>\n<em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>12 tablespoons <span class=\"ingredient\">\u00c9chir\u00e9 unsalted butter<\/span><\/li>\n<li>6 ounces (about 1 cup) <span class=\"ingredient\">Cacao Noel Noir 72% calets<\/span><\/li>\n<li>1 Tbs clear corn syrup<\/li>\n<li>5 tsp water<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/em\n\n\n\n<h3>Prepare the Cake<\/h3>\n<p>Line the bottom of an 8&#8243; springform pan  with parchment or waxed paper. Lightly butter the sides.<\/p>\n<p>Break up the biscuits into 1\/4- to 1\/2-inch chunks by hand. Do not use a food processor or rolling pin, they will reduce the biscuits to a pile of crumbs.<\/p>\n<p>In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine the cream, Lyle&#8217;s Golden Syrup and butter. Microwave on high for 1 1\/2 minutes or until bubbling. Add the chocolate and stir until melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the vanilla, then the crumbled biscuits, raisins + soaking liquid, and hazelnuts. <\/p>\n<p>Spoon the mixture into the springform pan and smooth the top. Gently tap the pan on the counter to eliminate any air pockets.<\/p>\n<p>Refrigerate for 3 hours or until thoroughly chilled.<\/p>\n<h3>Prepare the Glaze<\/h3>\n<p>In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, cream, and corn syrup. When the mixture reaches a simmer, remove it from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring gently with a spoon or heat-proof spatula until completely melted and smooth. Do not use  whisk, or stir too briskly \u2014 bubbles will be introduced to the glaze, and it will not form a shiny-smooth cloak over the Biscuit Cake.<\/p>\n<p>Carefully remove the sides from the springform pan (you may need to slide a thin knife around the inside upper edge to ensure the sides come away cleanly from the pan). Invert the cake onto a wire rack, then remove the bottom of the pan from the cake. Set the rack over a baking tray to catch drips.<\/p>\n<p>Pour the glaze evenly over the cake, allowing it to drip down and completely cover the top and sides. Allow to firm up, then transfer to a serving dish. Refrigerate leftovers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As you&#8217;ve undoubtedly heard,  Prince William induced a raised royal eyebrow or two with his request that the royal wedding feast include a groom&#8217;s cake based on a favorite childhood tea-time treat, chocolate biscuit cake \u2014 groom&#8217;s cakes are an American tradition, not an English one. But one bite of this festive, decadent creation and you&#8217;ll understand why HRH considered it an essential addition!  <\/p>\n<p>As with many simple, good desserts there are many variations on the recipe.  This one includes brandy-spiked  raisins and crunchy toasted hazelnuts, but you could use any chopped dried fruit and toasted nuts \u2014 or none at all.  The Biscuit Cake is quite rich, so a small slice usually suffices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[125,10,124],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1070"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1087,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1070\/revisions\/1087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lacocotteverte.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}