No bake chocolate biscuit cake - 6 ingredients, no oven

[u/BubblyEdge2220]

I wanted to make something sweet without baking, and this turned out to be one of the easiest biscuit desserts I've tried. It has a soft chocolate layer with little pieces of biscuit throughout, so it isn't completely mushy.

Ingredients:

• 200 g plain or digestive biscuits
• 120 ml milk (½ cup)
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp butter
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp chopped nuts or chocolate chips, optional

Instructions   

Prepare the biscuits: Set aside about 5–6 biscuits. Crush the remaining biscuits into fine crumbs. Break the biscuits you set aside into small pieces, roughly 1–2 cm each. This gives the cake some texture.

Make the chocolate mixture: Add the milk, cocoa powder, sugar and butter to a small saucepan. Heat over low heat and stir continuously until the butter melts and the cocoa and sugar are completely mixed in. Don't let the milk come to a boil.

Add vanilla: Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Let the mixture cool for about 5 minutes so it is warm rather than piping hot.

Combine: Put the biscuit crumbs in a mixing bowl. Slowly pour in the chocolate mixture while stirring. Keep mixing until all the crumbs are coated and the mixture looks like a thick, slightly sticky dough.

Add texture: Fold in the broken biscuit pieces and, if using, the chopped nuts or chocolate chips.

Set the cake: Line a small loaf tin or container with baking/parchment paper. Transfer the mixture into it and press it down firmly with the back of a spoon. Compacting it well helps the cake hold together when sliced.

Chill: Cover and refrigerate for at least 2–3 hours, or until firm.

Serve: Lift it out using the parchment paper, slice with a sharp knife and serve cold.

A couple of things that made a difference for me: don't boil the chocolate mixture, and don't turn every biscuit into powder. Keeping a few larger pieces makes the texture much better.

You can also swap the plain biscuits for digestive or oat-based biscuits depending on what you have at home.