A festive and delicious no-bake chocolate fridge cake flavoured with Easter spices and topped with crushed mini eggs. This Easter tiffin recipe also includes raisins to add seasonal authenticity. It’s easy to make and perfect for sharing. Furthermore, it’s an excellent way to use up any leftover Easter chocolate and eggs you may have lying around.
Despite its complete decadence, tiffin remains one of my favourite indulgent treats. You can find out just why it’s so good further down this post.
Dive Right In
- What Is Chocolate Tiffin?
- Why Make Easter Tiffin?
- Easter Tiffin
- Ingredients And Alternatives
- How To Make Easter Tiffin
- Other Tiffin Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- The Recipe
What Is Chocolate Tiffin?
In the UK, tiffin, also called chocolate fridge cake or biscuit cake, is a no-bake sweet treat. It combines crushed biscuits or cookies, melted chocolate, butter and golden syrup with a variety of mix-ins such as dried fruit or nuts.
It does not include marshmallows. If it does it becomes rocky road.
It appears that the name tiffin comes from the British Raj in the 1800s. “Tiff” was a British slang word for a tot of diluted liquor. However, it denoted pretty much anything that was eaten or drunk in the heat of the Indian day.
The name was soon adopted in India, mostly to mean lunch. With the rise of cities and industrialisation and different ways of working in the nineteenth century, tiffin carriers (dhabbas) came into their own. They were the best way to carry home-cooked food. And with the rise of lunch boxes came the tiffin wallahs who bought the lunch from home or stall to the hungry workers. (Ref: The Tiffin Story: A History Of The Famous Dabba).
How this then translated into a chocolate biscuit snack invented in 1900 is not entirely clear. If you can enlighten me, let me know.8
Why Make Easter Tiffin?
Easter tiffin is a fun and delicious treat that’s perfect for Easter celebrations and beyond. Whether you’re hosting an Easter gathering or simply looking for a fun and festive treat to make with your family, Easter tiffin with smashed mini eggs is bound to be a hit.
Here are a few more good reasons to make it.
- Budget Friendly – Easter tiffin is a no-bake dessert so requires no oven time. As electricity can be expensive, this makes it a great option for those on a budget.
- Delicious And Indulgent – It’s a rich and indulgent snack that’s perfect for satisfying your sweet tooth. The combination of chocolate, butter, golden syrup and mix-ins creates a decadent treat that’s sure to please.
- Easy To Make – The only effort required for this recipe is to melt a few ingredients, crush some others then mix it all together. It’s easy-peasy. There’s not a lot in the way of washing up either.
- Kid-Friendly – Kids love helping to make Easter tiffin. You can easily involve them in the mixing and crushing of the biscuits or cookies. They’ll also appreciate eating them, no doubt.
- No Waste – Easter tiffin is a great way to use up leftover Easter chocolate that might otherwise go to waste. Simply melt or crush them up and mix them with the other ingredients to create this delicious dessert.
- Perfect For Sharing – You can cut Easter tiffin into small squares or bars, which makes it easy to share with friends and family. It’s a great addition to any Easter celebration or potluck.
- Versatile – Use your favourite type of chocolate and add a variety of mix-ins, such as dried fruit, nuts or even smashed mini eggs to suit your own preferences.
Easy To Make Easter Tiffin
This Easter tiffin recipe combines crushed biscuits, melted chocolate, butter, golden syrup, seasonal Easter spices and raisins. Topped with crushed mini eggs, it’s an indulgent treat which is a feast both for the eyes and the taste buds.
Despite the huge quantity of chocolate in this recipe, it’s pleasantly sweet rather than cloying. The sweet spices are subtle but really lift the flavour and the raisins just make these tiffin bars feel like Easter.
It’s a wonderful recipe to make both for Easter and after Easter. It’s particularly good as an after-Easter chocolate clear-up. If you have any leftover Easter chocolate use it in this tiffin.
Having said that, this leftover Easter egg chocolate ice cream is pretty good too.
Ingredients And Alternatives
You only need seven ingredients to knock up a batch of these Easter tiffin bars. You’ll find the usual suspects: butter, chocolate, golden syrup and digestive biscuits, plus three additional ones to make them just right for spring celebrations.
Mixed spice and raisins are essential for that Easter flavour. Think hot cross buns, Easter biscuits and simnel cake to name but a few classic Easter bakes. Adding smashed mini eggs on top, not only looks beautiful but also adds a delightful crunch and burst of flavour.
Chocolate
You can use all dark chocolate, all milk chocolate or a mixture of the two. A blend of fifty percent dark and fifty percent milk makes for a pleasant mix which is rich and sweet, but not overly so. It’s fine to vary the combination according to what you have though. In the Easter tiffin bars you can see here, I used a hundred grams of dark chocolate (70%) and two hundred grams of milk chocolate (40%).
If you’re making the recipe after Easter, it’s a great way to clear out any leftover Easter egg chocolate.
Raisins
For me, you can’t have Easter food without dried vine fruit. Raisins add a little chew and sweet bursts of goodness. If you add them early in the process they also soak up some of the buttery syrupy juices which makes them even more delectable.
If you don’t have raisins, sultanas are absolutely fine and failing either of those, go with currants.
Mixed Spice
Mixed spice is a classic British blend of spices used in baking. It comes into its own at Easter. The mix will vary depending on the brand or cook, if making their own homemade version. It’s likely to include some or all of the following ground spices: allspice, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, ginger, mace and nutmeg.
If you can’t get hold of any or don’t want to make your own, American pumpkin spice or Dutch speculaas spice are good substitutes.
Biscuits (Cookies)
Biscuits or cookies are one of the essential ingredients in tiffin. I use digestive biscuits because they crumble easily, have a nice texture and aren’t overly sweet. There’s plenty of sugar in this tiffin without adding sweet biscuits.
If you’re in the United States, graham crackers make a good substitute for digestive biscuits.
Mini Eggs
Mini eggs are particularly good for this Easter tiffin as they add both colour and crunch. However any small eggs or Easter chocolates are fun and interesting. Just like the chocolate mentioned earlier, this topping is a useful way to clear out any leftover Easter chocolates.
However, if you have more, you can always add them to the actual tiffin as well as the top. In the images you can see here, I added eighty grams of mini eggs which have been sitting in my cupboard for a very long time. They were definitely past their best, but still edible.
How To Make Easter Tiffin
Easter tiffin is easy to make and requires no baking, though it does need a couple of hours in the fridge to set. Patience is called for.
Step 1. Melt Chocolate
In a large saucepan, melt the butter and golden syrup over a gentle heat. Add the raisins whilst the butter is melting. This gives them a chance to swell a little and soak up some of the buttery syrupy flavours.
Meanwhile chop your chocolate, unless you’re using chocolate chips that is. As soon as the butter has melted, turn off the heat and add the chocolate.
You can use whatever type of chocolate you like, but a mixture of milk and dark gives a particularly good result.
Leave it for a couple of minutes to start melting, then stir until thoroughly melted and smooth. Stir in the mixed spice.
Step 2. Bash Biscuits
Whilst the butter is melting, place the biscuits in a large bowl and bash with the end of a rolling pin or mortar. Keep going until you get a variety of different sized pieces and a good proportion of crumbs. This allows the biscuits to both soak up the chocolate mixture but also retain some crunch and interest.
Stir the biscuit pieces and crumbs into the chocolate mix. You can also add any mini eggs or chocolates you may have lying around at this point. They’re not necessary, but it’s a good way to get rid of excess stock.
I added eighty grams of mini eggs to this particular batch. They’ve been sitting in my cupboard for a very long time. Definitely past their best, but still edible.
Stir until everything is well mixed and the biscuit pieces are all coated in chocolate.
Step 3. Transfer To Tin
Either lightly butter a square silicone mould or line a tin with baking paper. If using a tin, make sure you allow enough paper to drop over two sides. You can then use these as ‘handles’ to remove the tiffin later. If using a silicone mould you’ll need to stand it on a baking tray so it maintains its shape.
Scrape the biscuit mixture into the prepared mould or tin and press it down to form an even layer with the back of a spoon.
To create the topping, simply chop each egg in half which will in effect give different shapes and sizes. You’ll need a sharp knife for this. Sprinkle them over the top of the mixture. Then press them down lightly with the back of a spoon.
I usually leave a few of the eggs whole for variety.
Step 4. Chill Tiffin And Serve
Place the tiffin in the fridge and leave it to set until firm for two hours. Less than this and the tiffin is likely to fall apart when you cut it.
Once set, either lift the tiffin out of the tin or turn it out of the silicone mould onto a plate. If you do the latter, you’ll need to then turn it the right way up onto a cutting board.
Now the mixture has set, you have a delicious and eye-catching dessert that’s sure to impress your family, friends or guests.
Using a sharp knife, cut the tiffin into bars for serving. You can make nine large bars or twelve smaller ones. It’s virtually impossible to cut the bars evenly as the hard mini egg shells can throw the knife off, so don’t worry too much. Easter tiffin is not meant to look perfect, just delicious.
The bars will cut cleanly if you’re patient and wait for them to set properly. I wasn’t this time so you can see that mine are a little crumbly.
Other Tiffin Recipes You Might Like
- Chocolate amaretto biscuit cake
- Chocolate honeycomb squares
- Coconut chocolate biscuit cake
- Lemon tiffin bars (gluten-free)
- Pecan maple ginger tiffin
- Sour cherry tiffin
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this easy Easter tiffin, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for using up leftover Easter eggs?
I’d very much appreciate it if you could rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, please use the hashtag #tinandthyme so I can see them.
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If you’d like more Easter recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Easter Tiffin. PIN IT.
Easy Easter Tiffin
Ingredients
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
- 50 g raisins
- 300 g chocolate roughly chopped (I used 200g milk chocolate (40%) and 100g of dark (70%)
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 250 g digestive biscuits
- 100 g mini eggs
Instructions
- In a large saucepan melt the butter over a gently heat. Add the golden syrup and raisins as it melts.125 g unsalted butter, 3 tbsp golden syrup, 50 g raisins
- As soon as it’s melted, add the chocolate and turn off the heat. Leave for a few minutes, then stir until the chocolate has completely melted.300 g chocolate
- Whilst the butter is melting, bash the biscuits in a bowl with the end of a rolling pin or a mortar. You want bits of varying sizes with a goodly proportion of crumbs. This mix gives the best texture.250 g digestive biscuits
- Roughly chop the mini eggs in half with a knife. This will give you varied shapes and sizes. Keep a few whole if you like.100 g mini eggs
- Either lightly butter a 20 cm (8 inch) square silicone mould or line a tin with baking paper, ensuring you leave two sides hanging so that you can later lift the tiffin out.
- Stir the spice into the chocolate mixture, followed by the bashed biscuit bits. Mix until everything is well covered.1 tsp mixed spice
- Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin, then level and firm it down with the back of a spoon.
- Sprinkle the top evenly with the chopped mini eggs and press these down a little with the back of a spoon. You want them to stick rather than be submerged.
- Place in the fridge for two hours to set, if you can manage it. I rarely can.
- Turn the set tiffin out onto a board and cut into 9 large bars or 12 smaller squares with a sharp knife. There will be crumbs as the hard eggs make cutting a bit tricky, but the longer you leave the tiffin to set, the fewer you will have.
Tina says
I absolutely love that this recipe is no bake. They are delicious and perfect for Easter time!!
Choclette says
Thank you Tina. They make a lovely and easy addition to the Easter table for sure.
sherry says
this sounds delicious. I like the way you have put the amounts of ingredients in the method steps too. very useful.
Choclette says
Thank you, it really is. I’m trying to add ingredients into method steps in as I create new posts and update old ones. It does make following the recipe easier I find.
Johanna - https://gggiraffe.blogspot.com/ says
I enjoyed this post but had hoped you would have an answer to link Indian tiffin to British tiffin. I have often wondered at the names being the same. Is it that it was afternoon tea like in India or that it was seen as a whole lot of bits like those tiffin containers that had layers of lunch? We made an easter egg fridge cake one easter and it was great fun. I like the look of those mini eggs. Unlike you I am not so keen on raisins and chocolate – which is odd as I love raisins in lots of other easter baking! But I am sure I would enjoy your easter tiffin.
Choclette says
I’m assuming the British word came from the idea of tiffin as a snack or as you say afternoon tea. Both fit in with the Indian idea. But I’ve not found anything to corroborate either. I sort of know what you mean about raisins and chocolate. I’d go for a nutty bar of chocolate over a raisin one anytime. But I do like them in this tiffin.
Do you not get mini eggs in Melbourne?