This is similar to a tiffin, or fridge cake, but I hesitate to call it either of those things, as the base is made differently. Rather than using golden syrup, (which seems to be the standard ingredient in both of those) this uses condensed milk. The texture is slightly fudgey, quite dense but not at all hard, and it slices like a dream straight from the fridge. It would be a perfect petit four, served with coffee after a meal, but equally delicious in a slightly bigger slice with a cup of tea mid-afternoon. It is rich though, so best to be enjoyed in small portions. I devised this originally to use up half a tin of condensed milk that I had leftover, but I’ll definitely be opening the tin specially for it from now on…
Obviously you can use whichever combination of dried fruit and nuts that you prefer, but I do think this combination is particularly delicious.
You will need a loaf tin (or a square brownie tin if you prefer) lined with greaseproof baking parchment.
[recipe-ingredients]- 1 x 397g tin condensed milk (if you’re here because you want to use up half a tin leftover from something else, just halve everything below)
- 330g dark chocolate, roughly chopped (approximately 55% cocoa solids)
- 100g unsalted butter
- 60g pistachios
- 100g flaked almonds
- 200g amaretti biscuits
- 40g raisins
- 40g dried cranberries
- Heat the oven to 200’c/180’c fan/gas mark 6.
- Combine the pistachios and flaked almonds on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 3-5 minutes, until just turning golden. Remove them from the oven and leave them to cool. (Don’t be tempted to skip this step, it transforms their flavour).
- In a heatproof bowl, combine the condensed milk, chocolate and butter. Heat in the microwave in short bursts, whisking between each burst, and stopping as soon as everything has melted. You could also do this over a bain marie if you prefer.
- Add the raisins and cranberries to the chocolate, then crush the amaretti slightly with your hands as you add them to the mixture as well. Don’t break them up to dust, just roughly break them up.
- Finally add the nuts and stir until everything is well mixed and coated in the chocolate mixture.
- Turn it into your tin, smooth down the top and leave to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
- Once completely firm, cut into slices or squares straight from the fridge.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge, it’ll keep a good few days like that.
As mentioned in the intro, you can add anything you like to this base. Marshmallows (if you’re not vegetarian), rice krispies, digestive biscuits, dried cherries, candied peel, desiccated coconut, whatever you like.
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