Prince William's Favorite Chocolate Biscuit Cake

I had been waiting for an opportunity to make The Royal Touch Chocolate Biscuit Cake by Darren McGrady (chef to Queen Elizabeth) since I first heard about it around the time of William and Katherine's wedding.  Father's Day was just such an opportunity - my husband loves all things chocolate, and we had all the kids home for dinner so I knew I wouldn't have a lot of leftover cake through the week. 

Most of you probably know by now that this is the cake Prince William requested as his Groom's Cake.  It's apparently a favorite of Queen Elizabeth's as well - Grady reports she ordered it every time Prince William would join her for tea. 

Although this is a no-bake cake, you'll need to prepare it at least 4 or 5 hours ahead of time.  It stores nicely in the refrigerator for several days once made (sits well covered at room temperature for several days too).  Chef McGrady suggests serving it chilled, but my family enjoyed it best at room temperature.  Either way, it's incredibly rich so serve very thin slices with plenty of coffee, tea, or milk.

Coincidentally, I just learned that today is Prince William's birthday. I wonder if he’ll be enjoying this cake?

Prince William's Chocolate Biscuit Cake

makes one 6-inch cake (I used an 8x4 silicone loaf pan) or 8-12 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• Softened butter for greasing pan

• 8 ounces McVities tea biscuits, broken into pieces (or digestive biscuits - click here for a recipe to make your own)

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

• 1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar (caster sugar)

• 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

• 1 egg, beaten

• 8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (for icing)

• Cinnamon for dusting

Directions

1. Lightly grease a 6" spring form pan; set aside.

2. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until mixture has lightened in color.

3. Melt 4 ounces chocolate in a double boiler.

4. Add butter and sugar mixture to the chocolate whisking constantly.

5. Add the egg and continue to whisk.

6. Fold in biscuit pieces until they are completely coated with the chocolate mixture.

7. Spoon the chocolate coated biscuits into the prepared pan.

8. Press firmly with the back of a spoon to fill in any gaps (tap the pan on the counter to help settle the biscuit pieces) - the bottom of the cake will be the top when turned out. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

9. Unmold cake and rest, bottom side up, on a wire rack.

10. Melt remaining 8 ounces of chocolate and pour over the cake.

11. Spread smooth with an off-set spatula.

12. Allow chocolate coated cake to sit at room temperature until chocolate is set.

13. When set, run a spatula under the cake to remove from wire rack (chocolate makes it stick a little).

14. Transfer to a fancy serving platter; slice and serve.

Notes

• My 6-inch spring form pan seems to be missing in action, so I used an 8x4 silicone loaf pan which worked perfectly (and I think neat slices offer a more elegant presentation). An added bonus - chilled chocolate doesn't stick to silicone at all.

• One 8x4 cake will serve 16 1/2-inch slices.

• McVities (aka digestive biscuits) are a sandy textured wheat cookie from the UK. I found them here in the US in the international aisle at Wegman's. Graham crackers, arrowroot cookies, or chocolate wafers would all be nice substitutions. Or you can make your own - click here for the recipe.

• You can make your own superfine sugar from white granulated sugar - just blitz it in your food processor.

Darren McGrady:  A chocolate biscuit cake is not a traditional cake in the fresh-from-the-oven sense. It's essentially a chilled chocolate-butter mousse speckled with crushed cookies, then glazed in chocolate. "I used to prepare it for both [Prince William and the Queen] when they had tea together," explains McGrady via his blog . "The Queen would request the cake in the menu book for Sunday tea when she knew her grandson would be joining her from Eton."

McGrady says when afternoon tea included the chocolate biscuit cake, the staff knew not to dare touch the leftovers (it keeps well for several days in the fridge). "Her Majesty loves this cake so much she takes a mental picture of how much she is sending back to the kitchens each day," continues McGrady. "I remember her on one occasion instructing her page to call the kitchen to ask who had been eating her cake."

adapted from Darren McGrady, Eating Royally

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Little ButterYum made these tender and tasty powdered sugar covered cookies for a school function recently, and there wasn't a single cookie left to bring home at the end of the evening.  Kept in an airtight container, these cookies can be made weeks ahead of time.  The recipe contains no eggs and goes together very easily using a food processor.  Alternately, the dough can be mixed together by hand if you have finely ground nuts already on hand.  Plan ahead - the dough needs to chill for about an hour before baking.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

makes 2 dozen cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup toasted nuts, finely chopped (1.75 ounces or 50 grams)

• 1 cup powdered sugar (4 ounces or 115 grams)

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (8 ounces or 227 grams)

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1/8 teaspoon fine salt

• 1 3/4 cups bleached all-purpose flour (8.75 ounces or 250 grams)

• additional powdered sugar for dredging

Directions

1. To chop the nuts, place them in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, along with 1 cup powdered sugar; pulse until nuts are finely ground.

2. Add butter, vanilla, and salt; process until smooth, scraping the sides of the work bowl as needed.

3. Add flour and pulse until dough clumps together in a ball. Alternately, you can combine all the ingredients by hand, or using a stand mixer.

4. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 1-3 hours.

5. Preheat oven to 350F.

6. Divide dough into 24 equal portions and roll each into a ball.

7. Place on silpat lined cookie sheet, about 1 1/2 inches apart and bake for 20 minutes until the edges just start to brown.

8. Remove sheet pan from oven and let cookies rest for 3 minutes before dredging in powdered sugar (do this while the cookies are still warm).

9. After dredging, allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack and dredge in powdered sugar a second time.

10. Store cookies in an airtight covered container at room temperature for up to a month (they'll never last that long once you taste them!). Enjoy!

adapted from Rose's Christmas Cookies