Do you ever get cravings for things you loved as a kid? For me it is butterscotch Angel Delight (which of course is the best flavour), Jaffa Cakes and Custard Creams. When I was younger, actually who am I kidding still now, I had a very specific way of eating a Jaffa Cake. You nibble the cake around the edge avoiding the jelly, gently peel the sponge from the back and then place the chocolate coated jelly into your mouth, sucking off the chocolate. Weird? A little! Delicious, Absolutely! You can of course make these with regular oranges but I have a slight obsession with blood oranges. I have a wonderful greengrocers near my house and at the moment I seem unable to buy any other fruits or vegetables without also buying a glut of beautiful blood oranges. I maybe obsessed but when blood oranges come into season I have to get my fill, it's a long wait for them to come back into season, so whilst I can get them they're a constant presence in my kitchen.
The idea of Jaffa Cakes is simple enough - a spongy base topped with orange jelly and coated in chocolate, seems straightforward? Thankfully they're actually as simple as you would hope. I used a genoise sponge as the base, a simple blood orange jelly, topped with melted chocolate. So far so easy but there is one slightly tricky part, adding the chocolate. You cant dip them, so you have to gently tease the chocolate with a spoon, its not difficult just fiddly.
Blood Orange Jaffa Cakes
Sponge Base
2 large eggs
60g golden caster sugar
60g plain flour
30g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
Blood Orange Jelly
160ml blood orange juice
1 tbsp golden caster sugar
2 sheets of gelatine
150g dark chocolate
To make the jelly place the blood orange juice and the sugar into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, dissolving the sugar. Meanwhile, place the gelatine into a bowl of cold water, setting aside until softened. Once the sugar has dissolved remove the gelatine from the water, squeezing off any excess water and add to the juice mixture, stirring together until full dissolved.
Line a 9-inch round cake pan with clingfilm and pour in the jelly mixture, chilling in the fridge for a few hours until set.
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C Fan) and lightly grease two 12-hole muffin pans.
To make the sponge bases place the eggs and sugar into a large bowl and using an electric mixer whisk together for about 5 minutes until pale and thickened. In two additions sieve over the flour and gently fold together. Pour in the butter and fold together until fully combined. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, about 1 tbsp of batter per base and bake in the preheated oven for 7-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before carefully teasing the cakes out of the pans (they tend to stick a little bit but with a little teasing they pop right out).
Remove the jelly from the fridge and using a 4cm cut out 24 disc of jelly and place on the middle of each sponge base. For the topping place the chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and in 30 second bursts heat until about 3/4 of the chocolate is melted, remove from the microwave and stir until fully melted (this is a quick simple way of tempering chocolate, great when using small amounts).
To decorate the cakes use a teaspoon to spread chocolate over the top of the jelly, gently teasing it to the edges of the cakes. To give the classic Jaffa Cake look use a fork and gently press the tines onto the chocolate and lift up, do this after coating each cake as the chocolate needs to be fluid to achieve this look.
These cakes will keep for up to two days.