Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sponge - Tech, Cosplay, Baking & Podcasts

Well this is my first proper post on this new blog and what better way to start than with some baking!Since I will be attending a small Tea Party this week I decided to make a Refrigerator Cake (sometimes called Tiffin) with a twist. And while I was at it I also made a normal refrigerator cake (because I'm a scientist and needed a control cake, plus there was a house warming to attend later in the day).

Ingredients

To bake along with this blog obtain the following ingredients:

4 oz (125 g) Margarine
2 oz (50 g) Soft Brown Sugar [for an original refrigerator cake substitute Caster Sugar]
2 tbsp. Maple Syrup [for an original refrigerator cake substitute Golden Syrup]
2 tbsp. Drinking Chocolate
1 tbsp. Cocoa
10 oz (300 g) Crushed Digestive Biscuits
2 oz (50 g) Glacé Cherries [chopped]
2 oz (50 g) Raisins

You can also add chocolate icing (however, since this is such a rich cake I never feel it needs it!):

4 oz (125 g) Plain Chocolate
1/2 oz (15 g) Butter

Recipe

Place margarine, syrup, sugar and milk in a pan and heat gently.
Add drinking chocolate, cocoa and half the biscuits and mix well.
Add remaining ingredients and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Press into an 8 inch (20 cm) Sandwich tin.
Chill in fridge until set then remove from tin.

Icing (optional)

Melt chocolate and butter in a small bowl over a pan of hot water (a bain-marie) and mix well.
Spread over biscuit mixture and allow to set.

Step-by-Step Comparison

I decided to take comparison photos as I went along between the two (you know for Science! ...and baking).

[Original on the left, Maple syrup on the right]

Step 1:

Not much difference at this stage though the Maple syrup was obviously (and worryingly) runnier than the Golden syrup.

At this point the margarine just wouldn't mix with the Maple syrup and I seriously began to worry about the integrity of my dessert!

Step 2a:

Now there is potentially room for debate on the, until now, presumably uncontroversial topic of crushed digestives. Do you use old broken biscuits? Do you break them individually? Do you smash them with hammers? [Clearly not, that is silly and dangerous] Do any of these methods achieve such good results as in the next picture?

Now this is definitely the most fun part of making a refrigerator cake because the answer, my friends, lies in using the trusty rolling pin:

Step 2b:

The darker colour of the Maple syrup and brown sugar mixture is beginning to show. Also it is finally mixing well. [Watch out at this stage as the Maple syrup boils much quicker than its Golden cousin]

Step 3: