10 April, 2015
Tags: UFuud; jaffa cakes; orange; chocolate
I meant to post this recipe a lot sooner than this, but Easter holidays and a sinus infection got in the way! These are my homemade Jaffa cakes, which are my all time favourite biscuit. I literally cannot be trusted with a packet of them! I will, without remorse or care for my health, eat an entire pack of them. I hope you enjoy and this is a really simple recipe, they would be a lovely treat if you were having friends around for a coffee and wanted to do something different but not too complicated. My husband tasted the orange preserve and the chocolate before I made the cakes and wasn't crazy about them, he tends towards preferring milk chocolate and sweeter tastes. But once these were made he LOVED them. Pairing the dark chocolate with the orange really compliments the taste of both.
I was very lucky to be offered an opportunity to order some great produce from a new Italian food company Ufuud, mind you there were so many good things to choose from it took me ages to decide. However when I saw the Sicilian Organic Mandarin Preserve and their selection of chocolate, there was only one option! Homemade Jaffa cakes. I had recently read Ruby Tandoh's recipe in the Guardian and it seemed quite straight forward and simple. I followed her recipe for the sponge base and made my own version of the orange centre.
To make the sponge mixture grease a 12 hole muffin tin and line the bottoms with little circles of parchment paper. Preheat a fan oven to 200C or the equivalent. Melt 15g butter and set aside to cool. In a large bowl whisk one whole egg and one egg yolk with 40g caster sugar for at least 5-10 minutes until the mixture leaves a ribbon imprint on top when you drizzle it back on itself. Sift in 40g plain flour and using a metal spoon quickly mix it together. You want to combine the mixture as quickly and lightly as possible. Once it's almost all incorporated, add in the melted butter and combine. Be careful not to overmix.
Divide the mixture into the muffin tins and bake for 5-6 minutes until risen and springy to touch. Leave to cool in the tin. To make the orange centre, heat the 200g orange preserve in a saucepan. Soak 2 gelatine leaves in some cold water to soften. Squeeze the water out of them and add to the orange preserve off the heat. Once the gelatine has completely melted into the mixture set aside to cool slightly.
Once the orange mixture and the sponge have cooled, add a generous teaspoon of the orange mixture to the top of the sponge and allow to set. Once completely set and cooled, melt 100g chocolate in a bowl above a saucepan of water. Be careful not to let the water touch the bottom of the bowl or the chocolate will seize. You can either dunk the cakes into the mixture or drizzle the chocolate on top, which is what I did. Pop into the fridge for the chocolate to set. Don't forget to remove the paper discs from the bottom of the cakes before eating.
