In honour of the passing of Queen Elizabeth 11, we’re making one of her favourite cake recipes. It’s a no-bake cake and this is the original recipe as shared by the Queen’s past royal chef Darryn McGrady. 

CAKE 

225g tea biscuits, like super wine or plain digestives 

115g unsalted butter, softened 

115g (a scant half cup) caster sugar 

120g dark chocolate 

1 egg 

ICING 

225g dark chocolate 

1. Grease a 15cm cake tin – use a spring tin if you have one.
2. Break each biscuit into almond size pieces and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy.
4. Melt the dark chocolate until just melted and add this to the butter mixture, stirring constantly. Beat in the egg.
5. Fold in the biscuit pieces until they are all coated with the chocolate mixture.
6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake ring. Try to fill all of the gaps on the bottom of the tin as this becomes the top once turned out.
7. Chill the cake for at least 3 hours.
8. Gently melt the dark chocolate over a low heat.
9. Once the cake has chilled, turn it out onto a wire rack. Pour over the melted chocolate and smooth the top and sides using a palette knife. Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature.
10. Lift it onto a tea plate and serve in clean slices.