British Jaffa Cakes

Written by
Elaine Lemm
Elaine Lemm is a renowned British food writer, classically trained chef, teacher, and author with over 25 years of experience writing about British food and cooking.
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Elaine Lemm
Updated 07/17/19
Jaffa cakes on cooling cloth

 The Spruce
  • Total: 29 mins
  • Prep: 20 mins
  • Cook: 9 mins
  • Yield: 12 cookies (12 servings)
Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
167 Calories
9g Fat
17g Carbs
4g Protein
See Full Nutritional Guidelines Hide Full Nutritional Guidelines
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12 cookies (12 servings)
Amount per serving
Calories 167
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 9g 12%
Saturated Fat 5g 24%
Cholesterol 76mg 25%
Sodium 69mg 3%
Total Carbohydrate 17g 6%
Dietary Fiber 2g 7%
Protein 4g
Calcium 33mg 3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

The traditional Jaffa Cake is something of a British icon. The small biscuits have a layer of sponge, topped with a sweet orange jelly and finished off with plain chocolate (in the U.S., this is known as semi-sweet chocolate). In Britain, they are easy to find and relatively cheap to buy, and they are so loved.

Making the cakes is easy and a lot of fun. The trickiest part is putting on the chocolate, which, if you want to make them look like the packet versions, will be practically impossible to replicate. So stop worrying about that bit, and pile on the chocolate, which is a superb combination with the orange.

 

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe ingredients
     The Spruce

  2. Grease a shallow bun tin with a little of the butter and put to one side. 

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  3. Break the tablet of jelly cubes and place into a heatproof bowl or jug. Cover with boiling water and stir well until the jelly dissolves.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  4. Stir in the marmalade and put to one side to cool slightly.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  5. While the jelly is cooling, line out a 10-by-10-inch tray or Pyrex square bowl with plastic wrap. Pour in the jelly and pop into the refrigerator to set, about 45 minutes.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  6. Place the egg and sugar into a baking bowl and using an electric hand whisk. Whisk until light and creamy and pale in color.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  7. Sift the self-raising flour into the bowl. Then, using a metal tablespoon, fold the sifted flour into the egg mixture.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  8. Put a good tablespoon into each cup of the bun tin. Tap the tin gently on the worktop before popping it into the center of the preheated oven.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  9. Cook until golden and slightly firm (the sponge should spring back when pressed lightly), about 8 to 10 minutes.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  10. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing and placing on a cooling rack.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  11. While the sponge is cooking melt the chocolate. Put a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Add the chocolate and leave to melt. If you must stir, use a wooden spoon, never a metal one.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  12. Take from the heat as soon as melted and leave to cool. As the chocolate cools it will thicken and eventually harden so may need heating slightly again when covering the cakes.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  13. Take the tray of jelly from the fridge. Lift out the plastic wrap with the jelly, place onto a worktop and using a pastry cutter, cut discs of orange ever so slightly smaller than the cakes. Keep in the fridge until you need them.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  14. Once the cakes are completely cool, lay a disc of jelly onto the domed uppermost surface.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
    The Spruce 

  15. Check the chocolate is cool, then spoon over the surface. The chocolate will run off a little but do not worry, that is the homemade look we want.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

  16. Place each biscuit on the cooling rack as you complete them.

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
    The Spruce 

  17. Serve and enjoy!

    British Jaffa Cakes recipe
     The Spruce

Tips

  • Store the Jaffa cakes in an airtight tin, not in the fridge. If you put them in the fridge the chocolate will lose its shine. Eat within 5 days. 
  • Use plain chocolate, not dark chocolate. The difference is that plain (known as semi-sweet in the States) has lower cocoa solids than dark. You should be looking for a chocolate around 30% to 40%—dark can be as high as 70%. One brand which works well is Bournville by Cadburys. 
  • Using marmalade in this recipe gives a distinctly sharp orange flavor to the jelly—a tang which you will not find in the shop-bought ones.

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