This four-ingredient Bourbon Biscuit Cake is SO simple but will definitely impress! You might be wondering how it’s possible to make a four-ingredient chocolate cake and bake it for just 20 minutes, but trust us, it’s easy AND delicious. And it’s full of Bourbon Biscuits!
Bourbon Biscuits are a sandwich biscuit made of two dark chocolate rectangular biscuits with a chocolate buttercream in-between. They’re really moreish, and make a great accompaniment to a cup of tea! In fact, they’re one of the top three biscuits consumed in the UK!
Bourbon Biscuits are a British classic, although they were actually invented by a German named Hans Zehnloch. The name has nothing to do with the drink but instead comes from a combination of where they were invented – BOURnville, and the inventor’s hometown of BONN. They also have 10 holes because his last name, Zehnloch, literally means ’10 holes’.
In any case, we’ve taken these biscuits that were created in 1910 and reinvented them into a delicious chocolate cake. And we don’t just mean the flavour, we mean that this cake recipe is mostly made up of Bourbon Biscuits! How you might wonder? Read on and see!
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Things you’ll need to make Bourbon Biscuit Cake
- 7” loose bottom cake tin
- Food processor or blender that can break down the biscuits to fine crumbs
- Large mixing bowl
Ingredients for Bourbon Biscuit Cake
Yield: 10 slices
For the cake:
- 450g bourbon biscuits (3 ¾ cups)
- 350ml whole milk (1 ½ cups)
- 2 tbsp self-raising flour
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
For the topping:
- 150ml double cream (2/3 cup)
- 175g dark chocolate chips (1 cup)
- OR 300g melted Nutella (1 cup)
- Extra bourbon biscuits to decorate (optional)
Chocolate Ganache or Nutella?
We decided to decorate our Bourbon Biscuit Cake with a chocolate ganache, but you could also take the simplicity even further and just warm some Nutella in the microwave and pour it over the top! This does introduce a slight hazelnut flavour of course, so if you want to stick with the chocolatey Bourbon Biscuit flavour then we’d suggest the chocolate ganache topping.
I mean let’s face it, you’ll probably make this more than once anyway and can try it both ways!
How to make Bourbon Biscuit Cake – Step by Step Method
Prep time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 15-20 minutes
Cooling time: 30 minutes
Grease and line a 7” loose bottom cake tin with baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan 350F/320F fan.
Add the bourbon biscuits to the bowl of a food processor and blitz until completely broken down into fine crumbs.
Transfer the biscuit crumbs to a mixing bowl, then add the milk, flour and sugar. Stir well to combine.
Spoon the mixture into your prepared cake tin, smoothing into an even layer.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer poked into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes before adding the topping.
Make the topping. First, put the dark chocolate chips into a mixing bowl.
Heat the cream in a saucepan over a medium heat until starting to bubble.
Immediately pour the hot cream over the dark chocolate chips. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes.
Whisk the cream/chocolate mixture until it forms a smooth, shiny ganache.
Spoon the ganache all over the top of the cake.
If you’re using Nutella then warm it carefully in the microwave and then simply pour over.
Decorate with extra bourbon biscuits if desired.
Making a Larger Cake
If you want a larger cake then you can double the recipe but will need a longer cooking time. Another option is to make two cakes and sandwich them together with ganache – a bit like a Bourbon Biscuit itself!
Decorating your Bourbon Biscuit Cake
Feel free to get creative with how you decorate the cake! We just used a bunch of Bourbon Biscuits, but you could do crumbs, biscuit halves, or even a piped buttercream.
What else can you make from Bourbon Biscuits?
Bourbon Biscuits are used in lots of different desserts. They can be made into a cheesecake (we might have a recipe coming!) brownies, milkshakes, and more.
4 Ingredient Chocolate Bourbon Biscuit Cake Recipe
This four ingredient Bourbon Biscuit Cake is SO simple but will definitely impress! You might be wondering how it’s possible to make a four ingredient chocolate cake and bake it for just 20 minutes, but trust us, it’s easy AND delicious. And it’s full of Bourbon Biscuits!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 450g bourbon biscuits (3 ¾ cups)
- 350ml whole milk (1 ½ cups)
- 2 tbsp self-raising flour
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
For the Topping
- 150ml double cream (2/3 cup)
- 175g dark chocolate chips (1 cup)
- OR 300g melted Nutella (1 cup)
- Extra bourbon biscuits to decorate (optional)
Instructions
- Grease and line a 7” loose bottom cake tin with baking paper.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan 350F/320F fan.
- Add the bourbon biscuits to the bowl of a food processor and blitz until completely broken down into fine crumbs.
- Transfer the biscuit crumbs to a mixing bowl, then add the milk, flour and sugar. Stir well to combine.
- Spoon the mixture into your prepared cake tin, smoothing into an even layer.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer poked into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes before adding the topping.
- Make the topping. First, put the dark chocolate chips into a mixing bowl.
- Heat the cream in a saucepan over a medium heat until starting to bubble.
- Immediately pour the hot cream over the dark chocolate chips. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes.
- Whisk the cream/chocolate mixture until it forms a smooth, shiny ganache.
- Spoon the ganache all over the top of the cake.
- If you’re using Nutella then warm it carefully in the microwave and then simply pour over.
- Decorate with extra bourbon biscuits if desired.
Notes
We decided to decorate our Bourbon Biscuit Cake with a chocolate ganache, but you could also take the simplicity even further and just warm some Nutella in the microwave and pour it over the top! This does introduce a slight hazelnut flavour of course, so if you want to stick with the chocolatey Bourbon Biscuit flavour then we’d suggest the chocolate ganache topping.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 397Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 199mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 2gSugar: 30gProtein: 5g
These values are an indication only
Hi how far ahead can this be made?
Hi! As with any chocolate cake we would say it’s best eaten within 2-3 days, but it could keep for up to a week in an airtight container. It is possible to freeze cakes to make them last longer but we’ve never tried it with this particular recipe unfortunately so can’t tell you how it would turn out!