Tiffin
The other day I was in Pret A Manger, which if you don't know, is a coffee/sandwich place in the U.K. I had popped in to grab a quick snack and my eye was caught by their version of a bar of tiffin. I love tiffin, which also goes by the name of 'fridge cake'. It is immensely chocolatey, dense, chewy, crispy and delicious.
So my mission this week was to set about figuring out how to make it - which in hindsight may have been a dangerous thing (they are now within easy reach!!)
What is also appealing about this recipe is that there is hardly anything to do to make it! No oven, no tin lining and minimal equipment - which also means less washing up (hooray!)
Tiffin
120g unsalted butter
200g digestive biscuits, crushed - leaving some bits chunky
2 tbsp golden caster sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
6 tsp best quality cocoa powder
120g dark chocolate
100g milk chocolate
handful of raisins
Place the butter, sugar, golden syrup and cocoa powder in a medium sized saucepan over a low heat and slowly melt together.
Tip in the crushed digestive biscuits, along with the raisins and mix thoroughly so that the biscuits and raisins are well coated in the melted buttery chocolate mixture.
Scrape the tiffin mixture out into a square 20cmx20cm baking tin, and press to the edges, leave to one side.
Melt the dark and milk chocolate together in a heatproof bowl, suspended over a pan of simmering water (making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Once melted, pour over the top of the tiffin mixture and spread the melted chocolate out so that it completely covers the surface and meets the edges of the tin.
Place into the fridge for about an hour to set completely.
Flip over the baking tin to allow the tiffin to slide out - if it isn’t coming out willingly, then place the base of the pan in some warm water (don’t let the water rise over the edges, onto the tiffin!) Hold it there for 30 seconds and then try flipping it again. The heat from the warm water should have lightly melted the chocolate from the base of the tin, allowing it to slide out.
Cut the square into 5 columns and then each column into two halves so you are left with 10 long rectangles. To keep it neat and to help with the cutting, run the knife under the hot water tap to heat the blade up, dry - then cut. The heated knife should cut through the chocolate smoothly.
To make mine more transportable for lunches, I wrapped a strip of parchment paper around the centres and secured them with string. Store in an airtight container.
These are the best afternoon ‘pick me up’ and I am not sure how long they will last as they are very more-ish.
