There are loads of beautiful recipes for leftover ham, turkey, sprouts, and spuds.
But this year, the near-unthinkable has happened: we’re left with mountains of leftover chocolate and biscuits.
It’s my fault; I grew up in a big family, and am ontologically incapable of cooking or buying for two.
So seeing as I’m responsible for the sugary issue, I decided I’d be the one to find the solution. This year, we’ll be turning our remaining Celebrations and shortbreads into an NYE party-worthy fridge cake.
I’ve written before about my perfect rocky road recipe, which uses 800g of biscuits to 150ml Golden syrup, 250g nuts, marshmallows, and/or dried fruit, and 275bg butter to 225g chocolate.
The Odlums recipe elevates the fridge cake above its usual bake sale status by cooling the mix in a cake tin and covering it in chocolate when cool, dotting decorative Maltesers on its top.
The dessert is perfect for lever Christmas treats because it’s kind of like sweet bubble and squeak; you can get away with a lot so long as butter, chocolate, golden syrup, and biscuits are involved.
Your leftover Danish butter cookies, shortbread, or even gingerbread will make an amazing biscuit base (add a tiny bit less chocolate if they’re chocolate-coated).
You can chop up leftover selection tin chocolates and add them into the mix too; Mary Berry loves Crunchies in her rocky road, while chewy Milky Ways or Turkish Delight will add some texture to the dish.
Melted-down Toblerone will make a gorgeous chocolate base for the cake, as will Terry’s chocolate orange (for the citrus/chocolate lovers) ― though I’d recommend mixing both with dark chocolate, for balance and structure.
Nuts, fudge, and dried fruits are all perfect accompaniments too.
And if you’ve still got some fancy chocs, like Ferrero Rocher or pricey truffles leftover, they can crown that chocolate top for a showstopping display.
It’s hard to end up with a chocolate/sugar/biscuit/butter mix that tastes bad. But if you’ve got a huge array of chocolate leftover, it’s important to consider how any strong flavours will work together.
For instance, a ginger snap and dark chocolate fridge cake sounds delicious (especially with crystallised ginger chunks), but a strawberry cream and orange chocolate mix may not sit well together.
Ratios are crucial too; don’t add hundreds of grams of chocolate into the mix without adjusting the original addition.
And while rocky road or chocolate fridge cake is often used to get rid of softened, old biccies, I recommend avoiding any that are more than a couple of days past their best; nobody wants a sad, soggy slice to ring in 2025.
