Food Porn Thursdays.
A chocolate ripple cake is the kind of cake you probably consumed as a wee little one living in Australia. Memorable, oh yes, but definitely long forgotten. Or so I assumed. We were only recently reacquainted at a dinner party a few weeks ago, when our lovely host presented us with this heavenly and very impressive monochrome concoction. And all with a cute side of fresh raspberries. It wasn’t until a few bites in that I realised that I was consuming a childhood favourite; the chocolate ripple cake. And to my delight so did everyone else at the table. It was a whimsical trip down memory lane. And once the nostalgic giggles surpassed us all and our dessert plates virtually licked clean, that we suddenly realised our dear friend had caused quite the culinary faux pas.
You see, the humble chocolate ripple cake was so last year! In fact it’s so 80’s! And being the ultimate food snobs that Melbournian’s (tend to wear with pride) are, it left us in shock.
What the hell was he thinking?
Well thing is my friend certainly deserves a medal. Why has a chocolate ripple cake not been consumed time and time again over dinner parties or family lunches? Why do we shy away from this as something that had it’s hay-day back in the swinging 70’s or whenever it was utterly du jour? Screw trends. I say bring this bad boy back into the mix. For one it’s utterly effortless, taste is second to none (not to forget also nostalgic) and truly looks pretty impressive too.
So the good ole’ chocolate ripple cake, utterly nostalgic and something that we’d had previously considered quite dated is none the less as iconic and as Australian as the pavlova. The only difference between the two desserts is that addictive television programs like Masterchef Australia has shone new light on the classic pavlova and brought it back in trend. While it may or may not be as complicated or technical as the traditional pavlova, still, I patiently await for such programs to do that very same to our beloved chocolate ripple cake. And bring back this glutinous goodness back into culinary fashion.
Regardless the chocolate ripple cake is back in my good books and shall be seeing the light of day again and again. I’ve actually attempted this three times now and learned a few lessons into perfecting my own creation. Things like limiting the amount of cookies per row, regardless of high wide your dish is for example. I find four cookies suffices because any more like my photos depict, the chocolate ripple cake starts getting a little too dense for consumption. And to my dear readers who do not reside in Australia and have absolutely no idea what the hell I am talking about here, never mind me and do yourself a favour and made this chocolate ripple cake for yourselves. Just substitute the ripple biscuits with any firm chocolate cookie you can find.
You will thank me later. Cheques gratuitously accepted.
INGREDIENTS
500ml thickened cream
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g Arnott’s chocolate ripple biscuits
Beat cream, sugar and vanilla extract until firm peaks form.
Spread a thin layer on the base of a serving platter.
Dollop cream on the centre of one biscuit then stand it on it’s edge on the base. Repeat with a second biscuit and sandwich together. Continue to layer biscuits, around four per row and form a log like shape then spread the entire surface with cream and cover.
Leave in a refrigerator to set overnight.
Top with berries and serve, making sure to cut diagonally.
Et voila.
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metaphoric love child of debbie harry and stevie nicks. weaver of words. infatuated with shoes.
