Choco Shell

Recipe contributed by Dhara Balwa

There was a wave in Gujarat when I think almost all the households made Choco shell as snack or dessert especially for kids as its a favorite among them. I think the recipe was printed in a newspaper and being different from the Indian sweets and so easy to make with very few ingredients and no baking or cooking  required, it was an instant hit. The other day, going through the aisles in the Indian store, my eyes stopped at the Marie biscuits and I remembered the time I had made this dessert for the first time. My first dessert ever! Quickly I put two packs of the biscuits in the cart with the aim of making Choco Shell as soon as I reach home. They were ready to eat in an hour and a half and I cherished the soft cake-like slices.

Servings: 20-22
Prep time: 35 min Freezer time: 20-25 min
Difficulty level: Easy

Ingredients:

52 Marie Tea time Biscuits

For Dipping the biscuits:

1 tsp. Instant Coffee
1 Tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa powder
6 oz. Milk
2 tsp. Sugar

For the Icing outside:

2 Tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
6-7 Tbsp. Confectioner's Sugar/Icing Sugar
6-7 Tbsp. Butter, at room temperature.

Method:

1) Prepare the icing by mixing cocoa powder, confectioner's sugar and butter till it is a smooth mixture.

2) Mix everything listed under the dipping ingredients in a microwave safe bowl or a cooking pot. Heat the mixture till a little hotter than luke warm.

The reason to do this is earlier, the Marie Biscuits were very soft and mush immediately when some liquid touched it. I think now they have become more resilient and don't absorb liquid so easily. For the cakey texture, they have to soak up the milk mixture. If the milk is cold they will take forever to soak, so by heating up the milk, it just fastens the process.

3) Now dip the biscuits 3-4 at a time in this warm chocolate milk mixture, let them stay in there for 15-20 seconds and drip out excess liquid. Stack the biscuits on each other in a broad plate. Plan to make three stacks out of 52 biscuits. Note: If you see the biscuits you have are absorbing the liquid fast and becoming mushy, take them out faster. They should be a little soft on outside and harder on the inside.

4) After you have made three stacks, with a knife, frost or coat the stacks of biscuits and it should look like a log as shown in the picture below. Try to do the icing as smooth as possible. If you want thicker coating, prepare more mixture accordingly.

5) Line the aluminum foil with plastic cling wrap. Put one of the log in the middle and wrap it well and put it in freezer to harden the butter and thus the outer layer. Repeat with the other two logs. After 30-40 min, press the log gently to see if the outer layer is hardened. If so, take the logs out one at a time and with a sharp knife, cut at an angle of 60-65 degrees to get the layers as shown above.

6) Refrigerate rest after popping one of the irresistible pieces in the mouth :), if not serving immediately.