Dark Chocolate Tiffin with Ginger (No Bake)

Dark chocolate tiffin with stem ginger, the perfect chocolate fridge cake. The flavours of bitter dark chocolate are combined with sweet and slightly fiery stem ginger, making this the ideal no-bake traybake to enjoy with your cup of tea or coffee.

Our dark chocolate tiffin is one of my favourite Scottish tray bake recipes. It is less baking and more of a crush, melt, mix. Also this chocolate biscuit cake is set in the fridge rather than baked in the oven.

No bake biscuit cakes are quick to prepare, so this chocolate tiffin fridge cake is ideal to make with young children. They can bash up the biscuits, while you melt the chocolate, then it’s back over to the youngsters to mix and press into the tray.

I have swapped the more traditional milk chocolate for a dark chocolate tifiin, adding in grated stem ginger and a little of the stem ginger syrup for a slightly less sweet flavour. This is my families favourite flavour combination when it comes to tiffin.

Where does chocolate tiffin originate from?

Chocolate tiffin originated in Scotland, where is was created by a bakery in Troon. It is a no bake chocolate traybake that usually contains digestive biscuits, butter, syrup, cocoa powder and dried fruits.

There is no actual baking involved as this is a fridge cake. Once the ingredients are melted together and mixed with crushed biscuits, the chocolate biscuit cake is set in the fridge.

What’s the difference between tiffin and rocky road?

These biscuit cakes are very similar, in that they are no-bake fridge cakes. Biscuits are crushed together to form a biscuit crumb. Butter, syrup, chocolate and cocoa powder are melted together and added to the biscuit crumb to form a biscuit base. Tiffin tends to have less added to it and chocolate melted over the top, giving it a smoother looking texture.

With a rocky road the biscuits aren’t crushed up quite so much and remain in larger chunks of crumb. Also a lot more ingredients are added to the crumb base, including dried cherries, raisins, nuts and mini marshmallows. These additions give a rocky road a far rougher exterior – hence the name rocky road.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• The perfect no bake traybake as this chocolate biscuit cake is quick and easy to make with the kids.
• Make ahead as this fridge cake can be stored for up to 5 days in the fridge.
• The flavour combination of dark chocolate with ginger means this chocolate tiffin is not too sweet.
• For Gluten free chocolate tiffin use a gluten free ginger biscuit and dark chocolate, just check the labels.

How to make dark chocolate tiffin:

• Look out all the ingredients ready to start.
• Line the baking tray with baking parchment, this will stop the tiffin from sticking to the tray and make it easier to remove later.

• Place the ginger nut biscuits into a large plastic bag, seal and bash up to a crumb using a rolling pin.
• Empty the crumbs into a large mixing bowl.

• Grate the stem ginger.
• Place 125g of the dark chocolate into a glass bowl and add the butter, syrup, stem ginger and stem ginger syrup.
• Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water (a bain marie) and stir until melted together.

• Pour the molten chocolate mixture over the biscuit crumbs and stir until well combined.
• Tip the biscuit mixture into the tray and using the back of a metal spoon spread the mixture across the tray, taking care to even it out and press into the corners. Place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

• Meanwhile, break up the remaining 175g of dark chocolate into a clean bowl and place over a pan of boiling water, stir until melted.
• Remove the biscuit tin from the refrigerator and pour over the melted chocolate. Return to the fridge for another 50 minutes to allow the biscuit base and chocolate topping to set hard.
• Once hard remove the tray from the fridge and remove the tiffin from the tray. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Why use a bain marie to melt chocolate?

I like to melt the chocolate over a bain marie (a bowl set over a pan of boiling water) as this stops the chocolate from burning and splitting. Just add enough water to heat, but not touch, the bottom of the bowl. Also ensure you don’t allow any of the water into the bowl as the chocolate will seize and become grainy.

Recipe ingredients & substitutions:

• Ginger Biscuits – McVities Ginger Nuts are my biscuit of choice as they have great flavour and a hard texture which works perfectly in this no bake biscuit cake.
• Dark Chocolate – use anything from 60-85% dark chocolate. I have used 70% dark chocolate in this tiffin, you can use any percentage of dark chocolate, depending on how bitter you like your chocolate.
• Butter – helps the tiffin to set. I have used unsalted butter but you could also use regular butter. Do not be tempted to use margarine or butter blends as your biscuit simply won’t set properly.
• Golden Syrup – adds the sweetness, you could also use agave syrup or maple syrup if you prefer.
• Stem Ginger – comes in jars and I use approximately 4 stems for this tiffin, along with some of the ginger syrup from the jar. If you prefer to add more stem ginger, then do so. I love ginger and have been known to add a tablespoon of ground ginger when I really want to ramp up the ginger flavour.

Chocolate Tiffin Fridge Cake flavour variations:

This no bake traybake can be easily added to and adapted to suit what you enjoy eating. Here are some ideas of ingredients that can be added to the biscuit base:

• Dried fruits – glace cherries, raisins, sultanas, cranberries, blueberries, apricots
• Crushed nuts – almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, macadamias
• Biscuits – digestive biscuits, Graham’s crackers, ginger nuts, biscoff biscuits, shortbread
• Flavours – chocolate orange tiffin, chocolate mint tiffin, chocolate aero tiffin
• Decorate your chocolate tiffin – make chocolate tiffin with mini eggs or decorate with Terry’s chocolate orange pieces, smarties, maltesers, crushed up honeycomb

Can I make ahead Dark Chocolate Tiffin?

Chocolate tiffin fridge cake is a great no bake traybake that can be stored in the fridge or freezer.

• Fridge: once you have made the tiffin, place it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• Freezer: cut the tiffin into portions, then place in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Useful hints and tips:

1. The easiest way to crush the ginger nut biscuits is to place them into a plastic freezer bag, seal the top, then use a rolling pin to break them up. You can make the crumb as fine or as coarse as you want. I always opt for a fine crumb.
2. Line the baking tray with baking parchment as this makes removing the set chocolate tiffin a whole lot easier.
3. Use a sharp knife to cut the tiffin into squares as a sharp knife will stop the top layer of chocolate from cracking.
4. When layering tiffin into the storage container, I like to place a sheet of baking parchment between each layer of biscuit to stop the tiffin from sticking to each other.
5. Make extra to freeze, double up the recipe and enjoy some now and freeze the rest for later.
6. To make gluten free tiffin ensure that the biscuits and chocolate that you are using is gluten free, just check the labeling before you buy.
7. Allergy advice: egg free, soya free and nut free. For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.

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Additional recipe suggestions:

If you like this no bake traybake recipe then try some of our other great recipes:

• No-bake Chocolate Tiffin
• Dark Chocolate Orange Tiffin
• Chocolate Mincemeat Tiffin
• No-bake Mars Bar Slices
• Custard Creams
• Melting Moments
• Chocolate & Hazelnut Cookies
• Chocolate & Pecan Brownies
• Lemon Butter Biscuits
• Orange Butter Biscuits

If you enjoy baking yourself, or want to try baking with your own children or grandchildren, then have a read of our Ultimate Guide to Baking with Kids. This useful guide is full of helpful hints and tips as well as many recipes to get you started.