Anyone who knows me at all knows I love everything British and I’m obsessed with Queen Elizabeth II. So to mark Lilibet’s 92nd birthday (April 21st), I made a vegan version of her favorite dessert, chocolate biscuit cake. She loves it so much that she never lets a single bit go to waste. If there are any leftovers when she is leaving Buckingham for Windsor, then it is instructed that the cake must travel too!
This cake isn’t so much a cake as it is a big round candy bar. There’s no baking involved and it’s basically vegan as is. Even the Rich tea biscuits are already vegan so you can just buy them straight from the store—assuming your grocery has an international aisle. The recipe is from Darren McGrady, former personal chef to Queen Elizabeth II, so you know it’s legit!
Be sure to weigh the chocolate, don’t convert the ounces to cups.
Ingredients
Cake
- 8 ounces Rich tea biscuits (approximately 20 biscuits)
- 1/2 cup vegan margarine, plus 1/2 teaspoon for greasing the pan
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 ounces dark chocolate
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegan egg from Follow Your Heart whisked with 3/4 cup ice cold water
Icing
- 8 ounces dark chocolate, for coating
- extra chocolate for decorating
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 6 inch cake ring with 1/2 teaspoon vegan margarine and place on a tray on a sheet of parchment paper.
- Break each of the biscuits into almond size pieces by hand and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the margarine and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Melt 4 ounces of dark chocolate and stir into the butter mixture.
- Add the Follow Your Heart egg mixture and beat to combine.
- Fold in the biscuit pieces until they are all coated with the chocolate mixture.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake ring. Try to fill all of the gaps on the bottom of the ring because this will be the top when it is un-molded. Once all your mixture has been scooped into the cake ring, use a piece of parchment paper to press the mixture down so there aren’t any air pockets.*
- Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
- Remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it stand.
- Meanwhile, melt 8 ounces of dark chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 second intervals. Slide the ring off the cake and turn it upside down onto a cake wire.
- Pour the melted chocolate over the cake and smooth the top and sides using a palette knife.
- Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature.
- Carefully run a knife around the bottom of the cake where the chocolate has stuck it to the cake wire and lift it onto a plate.
- Decorate with melted chocolate.**
* I did not do this and I regret it. So I am passing on my knowledge to you in hopes yours will turn out more solid than mine!
** I didn’t have any extra chocolate to decorate with so I just left it plain.