Kalter Hund (No bake Chocolate Biscuit Cake)

Kalter Hund is a cake made out of butter cookies, surrounded by chocolate, and if you buy the cookies – there’s no baking necessary!

Tips for making this Chocolate Fridge Cake

• If you are making your own cookies, be sure to roll them out as thin as possible. If they are too thick, the slices will break apart when you cut them – definitely not the end of the world but it won’t look as nice.
• To line the pan, use a parchment paper sling in at least one direction, if you want to be extra safe, you can put a strip going lengthwise and horizontally in the loaf pan.
• It is likely that some of the slices will break as you cut them, some ways to prevent this are to cut thicker slices – at least 1″ thick, and then you can cut them in half down the center if it is too large of a serving. Additionally the thinner the cookie, the better.

Additional Lemon Recipes to try!

• No Bake Chocolate Tart
• Chocolate Puff Pastry Twists
• Black Forest Brownies

Ingredients for Butter Cookie Biscuits

• AP Flour: I use the all purpose flour from Central milling company but any all purpose flour should work!
• Baking Powder: These cookies only use a little baking powder to add to the tenderness.
• Sugar: Powdered sugar is used in the cookies to give them a softer and more tender texture.
• Egg Yolk: There is one egg yolk in the cookies which adds to their rich, melt in your mouth quality.
• Butter: Butter is basically the main ingredient in these cookies – I use unsalted butter.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla gives these cookies their classic flavor.
• Water: Water is added into the cookie dough so that they have a bit more of a snap rather than just crumble:
• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is somewhat optional but I like to brush the top of the cookies with it before baking to give them a smoother texture and help with the browning.

Ingredients for Kalter Hund

• Butter Cookies: Store bought or homemade butter cookies will work perfectly for this, just make sure that they are thin.
• Semi Sweet Chocolate: I prefer this recipe made with Semi Sweet or Dark Chocolate but you could also use milk chocolate if you prefer. I recommend using high quality chocolate bars as they melt better than chocolate chips.
• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is mixed with the chocolate and butter to create a softer texture so the cake isn’t too hard.
• Butter: This recipe is often made with cocoa butter instead but I find cocoa butter hard to come by and regular butter works great!

How to make Butter Cookies?

Cookie Dough

• In a large bowl, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and egg yolk until just combined.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the flour and baking powder. Mix again until the mixture looks like sand, then add in the water and mix until just combined.
• If there are dry bits at the bottom, use a rubber spatula to gently fold them into the dough.
• Pour the dough onto a sheet of plastic and press it together into a square block, no more than 1″ thick.
• Place the dough into the fridge for at least 1 hour.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place two racks in the oven so that they divide it into thirds.

Bake the cookies

• Once chilled, roll the cookie dough out onto a lightly floured surface until it is no thicker than 1/8″. You want it as thin as possible without overworking the dough.
• Use a knife or bench scraper to cut the dough into rectangles that are 5 cm x 6 cm.
• Press the excess dough back together, wrap it up and place it in the fridge to bake once it has chilled again.
• Carefully transfer the cookies to the lined baking sheets. Leave at least 1/2″ of space between each cookie.
• Prick each cookie 3 times with a fork, this will help keep the cookies from puffing up. Then brush the top of each cookie with the heavy cream.
• Bake the cookies for 12 minutes and then swap and rotate them and bake for another 6-8 minutes.
• They should be golden brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and leave to cool fully.

Assemble the Kalter Hund

• In a large microwave safe bowl, add in the broken up/chopped up chocolate. Microwave on 15-20 second intervals, stirring in between until the chocolate is mostly melted.
• Add in the soft butter and stir to combine.
• Then add in the heavy cream and stir again. Heat briefly to make sure everything is smooth and well combined.
• Line a loaf pan with a parchment paper sling. Lay 6 cookies across the bottom of the lined pan.
• Use a ladle or a cup measure to add a thick layer of the melted chocolate mixture over the top of the cookies. It should be around 1/2 a cup – add more as needed. Be sure the chocolate reaches all the way to the edges.
• Then add on another layer of cookies and repeat layering the chocolate and cookies until only about 1/2 cup of the chocolate mixture remains. Pour the extra chocolate over the top and optionally crumble some of the cookies on top.
• Place in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours.
• To remove, fill a large baking pan with hot water and place the chilled loaf pan into it until the chocolate around the edges loosens. Use the parchment paper to lift the cake out and then cut into 1″ thick slices.
• *Place back in the fridge if it begins to soften too much.

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