McVitie's Jaffa Cakes Pole, 488g

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We prefer to use a granulated sweetener which is natural, has no nasty after taste, and weighs the same as sugar. They tend to cost a little more but they’re definitely worth it, and you’ll use less than the powdered variety of sweetener – there are a few brands available in the shops, so find one that suits you! This recipe is suitable if you’re gluten free as long as you swap out the following ingredients for gluten free versions; Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and grease a 12-hole, shallow bun tin with butter.

Jaffa Cake Recipe - Great British Chefs

When it comes to the Genoise sponge whisking is key! Don’t cut corners here… It’s essential that you whisk the eggs and sugar until the batter forms a lasting trail of mixture across the surface (that remains visible for a few seconds) when the whisk is lifted. As I said at the time, and memory serves that it was a press conference in Westminster’s QEII Centre (although it might just have been a press release): “We needed to establish the mean duration of the individual dunk episode of the average Briton. This was then combined with the time it took for each brand of biscuit wholly to dissolve in tea. And thus we calculated the perfect amount of time for the dunking operation.”Spray 12 muffin moulds with some low calorie cooking spray and divide the sponge mix equally between them. For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff to know in the blurb! So what’s with the ‘cake’ definition? Well, the base argument is this… Although they might look like and be marketed as biscuits, Jaffa Cakes are actually baked with a Genoise Sponge… That’s a cake mix right? And the texture is that of a sponge cake, which (unlike a biscuit) goes harder as it stales. Carefully line the jelly tin with baking paper as instructed on the recipe card… It’s easier to tip out that way.

Mary Berry’s jaffa cakes recipe - BBC Food

I’ll deal with the latter point first. That a Jaffa Cake is not a biscuit is rather suggested by its name. And also by law. In 1991, its creator McVitie’s successfully argued – in an epic battle with Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs – that the JC, invented in 1927, was a cake and thus not subject to VAT. Giant lady fingers, meanwhile, showed a rusk-like ability to stand up to immersion in hot liquid for more than an hour, whereas Rich Tea biscuits dissolved so rapidly that the report concluded they were only perfect for those without teeth.

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Sift in the flour and fold everything together with the orange juice and zest using a metal spoon. Use a spatula to scrape the batter into the frying pan. Level the batter off, then bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until risen and golden and a skewer comes out clean when pushed into the centre of the cake. No doubt many of you will argue with me, but I am with McVitie’s on this one. Jaffa Cakes (gluten free or not) are CAKE!