How to Make Jaffa Cakes - The British Cookie/Cake

This week for the Great British Bake Off Bakealong it was mini cakes week. We could have chosen any little cake and truth be told I thought about making mini bundt cakes as I have in the past but I decided I wanted to try something new. I therefore joined the hostess of the Bakealong, Laura from Little House Big Alaska and made Jaffa Cakes. If you don’t know what a Jaffa Cake (see HERE for a formal definition) is – and I did not until I watched the Great British Baking Show – it’s a cookie/cake with a sponge base, a gelatin center and a chocolate top. I happen to be a big fan of chocolate covered jellies so these treats sounded really delicious to me. Laura had very kindly reworked a recipe from Mary Berry to have American measurements so I used it! All props go to her for this one.

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Jaffa Cakes

Makes 12

6 ounces orange Jello
150 ml boiling water
1 orange, zested
1 egg
2 TBSP granulated sugar
4 TBSP self rising flour*
6 1/2 ounces German Chocolate milk chocolate would also work

*If you don’t have self rising flour in your pantry it’s easy to make: it’s comprised of 1 cup of all-purpose flour plus 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon fine salt. Just store what you don’t use in an air tight container

line an 8×12 pan with parchment paper, I sprayed cooking spray, cut the parchment to fit, then sprayed the parchment

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mix the Jello, boiling water, and orange zest together until the Jello has completely dissolved–this takes longer than you think it does

pour in lined pan, refrigerate for at least 2 hours
meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350?, butter a muffin tin and set aside

whip the egg and the sugar together until it’s light and foamy, 4 minutes or so on high with a mixer

carefully fold in the flour

put a little less than a TBSP in each muffin cup, smooth top if you need to
bake 7-9 minutes, mine took roughly 8

remove to cooling rack, let cool in the pan for ten minutes, then loosen them, remove from the pan, cool completely

once cooled line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil, place the cakes on the pan

when the Jello has set up turn the jello over onto a silicone mat or piece of parchment.
use a 1 1/2 inch round cookie cutter to cut out 12 circles
gently use a small metal spatula to remove the circles

place one circle of Jello on each cake, place in the refrigerator

melt the chocolate in a double boiler and then let sit off the hot water until it’s cool but still pourable

remove the cakes from the fridge, spoon some chocolate on top of each cake, use the spoon to smooth it over the Jello and to the edge of the cake to completely seal it
before the chocolate hardens draw lines across with a toothpick OR fork

How Were the Jaffa Cakes?

Well, let’s just say the Jaffa Cakes were gone by the next day. Yup, we ate 12 Jaffa Cakes in less than 12 hours. Suckers are tasty. As soon as I get more Jello I’ll be making them again. The only thing bad about the Jaffa Cakes is how addicting they are.