Kalter Hund – German No-Bake Cookie Slice
Kalter Hund — depending on the region also Kalte Schnauze, Kellerkuchen or Lukullus — is the German no-bake classic: layers of butter biscuits set in chocolate, built without an oven and firmed up in the fridge, then cut into thin slices like a loaf.
The coconut fat (classically Palmin) is not a substitute for butter, it is the construction itself: it sets hard in the fridge and cuts cleanly, which butter or cream cannot do. That is why the cake holds together with no baking at all.
The same principle with a creamy filling instead of set chocolate is the chocotorta, its Argentine relative — made with dulce de leche and cream cheese instead of coconut fat. Twenty minutes of work, and the fridge does the rest.
Ingredients
- 250 g rectangular butter biscuits
- 200 g dark chocolate, chopped
- 200 g neutral solid coconut fat (Palmin in Germany; it is what gives the firm cut)
- 60 g powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 pinch of salt
Method
- 1
Line a loaf tin of about 25 cm with cling film or baking paper, leaving plenty of overhang at the sides: that is what lets you lift it out later without breaking the layers.
- 2
Melt the chopped chocolate together with the coconut fat over a bain-marie, stirring to a smooth, glossy mixture. Take it off the heat.
- 3
Stir in the sifted icing sugar, the cocoa and the salt, and mix until there are no lumps.
- 4
Let it cool for about 5 minutes. Used too hot, the mixture softens the biscuits and the layers fall apart when you cut them.
- 5
Cover the base of the tin with a thin layer of chocolate and lay a layer of whole biscuits on top, close together and without overlapping. Break a biscuit if you need to fill the edges.
- 6
Repeat a layer of chocolate and a layer of biscuits until the ingredients are used up; the last layer has to be chocolate. That makes about 5 or 6 layers.
- 7
Tap the tin gently on the worktop two or three times so the chocolate settles and fills the gaps between the biscuits: if air bubbles are left, the slice breaks when you cut it.
- 8
Chill for a minimum of 4 hours, better overnight. Turn it out by pulling on the film and cut thin slices with a hot, dry knife. Serve well chilled: at room temperature the coconut fat softens and you lose the clean cut.