Chocolate Ripple Cake

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The basis of the dessert known as Chocolate Ripple Cake is the Arnott's Chocolate Ripple biscuit (cookie for Americans). This is a particularly hard, dry and brittle biscuit, intensely 'chocolately' and great in its own right. But as part of a Chocolate Ripple cake ...

This was first made for me by my grandmother when I was a little girl and we were on holiday so possibly at Merricks. Sadly for the cake's prospects of heightened levels of consumption in our household we - that is to say my sister and I, discovered our grandmother's particular talent for making meringues and it was game over.

But the cake is simplicity itself to make. Since no cooking is required it is something even very young children can help make (if you dare let them).

TO MAKE YOUR CHOCOLATE RIPPLE CAKE YOU WILL NEED:

• 300ml cream
• 1 tsp castor sugar
• Vanilla essence
• 1 pack Arnott’s Chocolate Ripple Biscuits
• Crushed nuts, grated chocolate or seasonal berries to decorate

HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR CHOCOLATE RIPPLE CAKE:

1. Add sugar and a drop of vanilla essence to the cream and whip until very stiff.
2. Join biscuits together by standing a biscuit on its side and sandwich with the next biscuit using a generous spread of cream. Continue until all the biscuits have been used and resemble a log.
3. Cover the log thickly and entirely with the remaining cream. Place in refrigerator for at least 6 hours to set.
4. Before serving, decorate log with grated chocolate, if desired.
5. To serve, cut cake at a slight angle to ensure alternate layers of chocolate biscuit and cream are in each slice. Serve with seasonal berries, if desired.

TO SPICE UP YOUR CHOCOLATE RIPPLE CAKE:

To add extra flavour to the cake, brush the biscuits with a spirit or liqueur of choice, for example rum or Kuhlua, before sandwiching together, or add a splash of alcohol to the cream before whipping.