When I heard that people all over the United States and the world would be celebrating Prince William and Kate Middletons wedding by having their own parties, I thought it would be perfect to share with you one of the recipes for the wedding cake. Apparently, Prince William and Kate Middleton will have two wedding cakes. Kate Middletons favorite is a type of fruit cake (Bride's Cake) while Prince Williams is a Chocolate Biscuit Cake (Groom's Cake) that he use to have when celebrating his birthday, and it's still his favorite.
When I heard this I immediately went to a cookbook I purchased a year or so ago by Darren McGrady. He was the private chef for Princess Diana and her family up until just after she passed away. In his book he shares the Chocolate Biscuit Cake recipe (Groom's Cake) which will be one of the cakes prepared for all those attending the wedding.
This morning on The Today Show, Bon Appetit shared their version of the recipe. However, according to Darren McGrady's book, Eating Royally
this is the recipe Prince William grew up with.A very simple recipe, with few ingredients, and it's a no bake cake! The only ingredient that you may have trouble finding are the McVities Digestive Tea Biscuits. I found mine at World Market however, they also had them at Global Foods here in town. So if you have either of those in your area you can pick them up or order them on Amazon
To me, the biscuits taste like Carr's Wheatmeal Crackers, kind of a sweet crumbly biscuit. They're really quite good.
It's no wonder Prince William loves this cake. After viewing the recipe and making it, I'm sure you'll agree, it's like a large Kit Kat Cake only with superior dark chocolate.
Note:
The icing is just simply melted chocolate. I think I would have preferred making a ganache or using the icing that I use on my Chocolate Avalanche cake where it's a bit thicker and richer. I didn't try The Today Shows version of icing but that might not be bad either. Maybe had I left it to set a bit it would have thickened up, however, it said to melt it and then pour it over the cake. If you try it let me know which version of icing you used and what you thought.
If you'd like to make this cake continue reading........
Chocolate Biscuit Cake
makes 8 servings
1/2 teaspoon butter, for greasing pan
8 ounces McVities rich tea biscuits
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 ounces dark chocolate (I used Lindt)
1 egg, beaten
8 ounces dark chocolate, for icing (Lindt)
1 ounce white chocolate, (Lindt) for decoration
Lightly grease a 6 inch springform pan (I used a 7 inch), with 1/2 teaspoon butter, and place parchment paper on top. Break each of the biscuits into almond-size pieces by hand and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until the mixture is a light lemon color.
Melt the 4 ounces of dark chocolate in a double boiler.
Add the butter and sugar mixture to the chocolate, stirring constantly. Add the egg and continue stirring.
Fold in the biscuit pieces until they are all coated with the chocolate mixture.
Spoon the chocolate biscuit mixture into the prepared springform pan. Try to fill all of the gaps on the bottom of the pan, because this will be the top when it is unmolded. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
Remove the cake from the refrigerator, and let it stand while you melt the 8 ounces of dark chocolate for icing.
Slide the ring off the cake and turn the cake upside down onto a cooling rack (I placed a cake board on the rack so that I could easily lift it up once iced). Place some foil under the rack to catch any extra drippings from the icing. (I also laid parchment paper on the board which was slightly bigger than my cake. This way once the icing was poured over the cake I could remove the parchment without showing a mess).
Pour the 8 ounces of melted dark chocolate over the cake, and smooth the top and sides using a butter knife or offset spatula. Allow the cake icing to set at room temperature. Carefully, transfer the cake to a cake dish. Melt the white chocolate and drizzle on top of the cake in a decorative pattern.
That's all there is to it. Slice and enjoy. YUM!
I think that either you need to let the chocolate cool a bit before pouring it over the cake, so it has time to thicken a bit or something was left out of the icing recipe or needs to be added to thicken it up. See my "note" above in the beginning for suggestions.
Even though my cake didn't have a thick coating of chocolate over it, it still tasted delicious. I followed the directions exactly as stated. It really is tasty, you should try it or a version of it!
Don't forget to watch the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton this coming Friday at 4:00am EST.
