NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE CAKE
The NO-BAKE Cold Chocolate Cake is a delicious dessert perfect for when you need a tasty treat, to impress, but made in a flash and without using the oven.
A mixture similar to a cheesecake but made with crumbled cocoa cookies and yogurt, without butter, or added sugars that transforms into a sort of “cocoa shortcrust pastry” easily workable with a rolling pin.
You will thus prepare the base of the No-Bake Chocolate Cake in less than 5 minutes with which you will line the mold, inside a generous layer of hazelnut cream that will be covered by the second layer of cookie dough. After firming up in the fridge for a couple of hours, the cake will be ready to be decorated. I dusted the surface with bitter cocoa and distributed some raspberries, but feel free to use your tastes and creativity.
The Cold Chocolate Cake without baking is an irresistible dessert to enjoy as a snack or to serve as a dessert at the end of a meal and can also be made several hours in advance, so you’ll have it ready at the right time.
If you like, you can enrich the dough with chopped nuts, while you can replace the hazelnut cream with custard, your favorite jam, a lemon curd, or a pistachio cream.
You can decorate it with the fresh fruit you have available or with chopped nuts and flavor the dough also with vanilla powder.
I’m sure that once you try it, you won’t give up this recipe! If you’re looking for other NO-BAKE desserts, also check out the recipes below
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: No-Bake
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 447.10 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 56.80 (g) of which sugars 35.45 (g)
- Proteins 5.83 (g)
- Fat 22.35 (g) of which saturated 17.98 (g)of which unsaturated 2.94 (g)
- Fibers 4.71 (g)
- Sodium 190.77 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 70 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 11.3 oz cocoa cookies
- 1 jar Greek yogurt (or plain natural 125 g)
- 8.8 oz Nutella®
- to taste bitter cocoa powder
- raspberries (strawberries or berries)
Tools
- Mixer
- Bowl
- Springform pan
Steps
Put the cookies in the mixer and blend them into a powder. Transfer them to a bowl and add the yogurt. Mix with a spoon until you get a fairly compact dough. It shouldn’t be too liquid or sticky, nor too hard. Adjust based on the type of cookies you use.
Transfer the mixture to a work surface and quickly shape it into a loaf with your hands. Cut it in half with a sharp knife. Place a portion of dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out with a rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thick. Place the dough sheet into a pan lined with plastic wrap.
Pour a generous amount of Nutella on top of the base, then smooth it with a spatula to create an even layer. At this point, roll out the second part of the dough to cover the No-Bake Chocolate Cake. Remove any excess dough, then fold the dough inward to create the edge of the cake, sealing it with your fingertips.
Cover the cake with plastic wrap and let it set in the fridge for about 2 hours. Remove the No-Bake Chocolate Cake from the fridge a few minutes before serving so it returns to the right creaminess. Finish by dusting the top with bitter cocoa powder and fresh fruit, I used raspberries. Enjoy!!!
NOTES
COOKIES In this recipe, I used Grancereali Cocoa type cookies because I love their crunchy texture due to the hazelnuts in the dough. You can easily use any other type of cocoa cookie, as long as it’s dry and doesn’t contain fillings.
YOGURT To get a dough of the right consistency, it’s best to use a particularly thick type of yogurt. I find Greek yogurt to be the best, but you can also substitute it with good plain natural yogurt, as long as it’s not too watery.
DOUGH The quantities I provided in the recipe refer to dough made with Grancereali cookies and Greek yogurt. If you decide to replace the type of cookie or yogurt, you might need to adjust the quantities. Keep in mind you need to achieve a “dough” that is soft but not sticky and firm but not hard and dry.
MOULD For this no-bake chocolate cake, I used a very small 7-inch diameter mold. By changing the size of the mold, the cake will obviously have different thickness and height.
STORAGE
This cake keeps for 2-3 days in the refrigerator, covered with a layer of plastic wrap (or aluminum foil) or with a cake dome. This cake contains custard, a fresh base that should be consumed within 3 days.
