Posh ‘Jaffa’ Cakes – gluten free

We all love Jaffa cakes right? Those lovely soft cakey-based biscuits filled with orange jelly and topped with chocolate….. The fond memories of childhood……. picking the chocolate off the top to reveal the jelly middle, or eating round the edge until just the middle jelly-rich circle was left…… Last year I even managed to make my own gluten free mixed-berry version.

In love with that combination of textures and flavours, this year I have taken the Jaffa experience a little bit further……. I introduce to you my Posh ‘Jaffa’ Cakes……..

The idea came after I had made a flourless orange cake recently…… As is so often the case, sleepless at night with virtual foodie heaven whirring through my head…… up popped the thought of another orange cake, rich with almonds, layered with home made orange-Cointreau jelly and topped with an oozy, sticky chocolate ganache.

Could it be done? Oh yes!!

The flourless orange cake that I made previously has the most amazing texture, but I was conscious that to make a cake which would hold and support the jelly without being either too wet or too ‘squashy’, I would need to make the sponge fractionally more dry. I use the term ‘dry’ very loosely……This is not a dry cake…… and wanting to remain in keeping with this being a flourless cake, I decided to use a small portion of almond flour alongside the ground almonds, which whilst soaking up a little extra wetness and ensuring a slightly stiffer sponge, in no way removes any of the lovely moistness that you would expect from a good bake.

The original flourless orange cake, used Naval oranges. This cake used blood oranges which I was still lucky enough to find lurking in a box in our local farm shop – Macknade. I love blood oranges, but I was really disappointed using them for this cake. I wanted to get a lovely red hue in the sponge, but when the oranges were boiled, all the redness leaked away and the flavour was slightly more bitter than the Naval’s when pulped. Hey ho….. take my advice…… if you make these, go for the Naval oranges if you can….. they are sweet and seem to shed no bitterness into the sponge.

These cakes were made in an individual mini sandwich tin which came from Lakeland. It’s fab for making straight-sided mini cakes, but if you don’t have one, you could equally cut circles from a tray-baked cake or make cored cupcake versions.

The jelly simply uses delicious pure-squeezed clementine juice that I found in Tesco when I was scouting around the chiller cabinets. Wanting however to make it a little bit special, I added a sizeable splosh of Cointreau orange liqueur to the cooling jelly liquid, before it set for an extra boozy surprise. I did of course make some alternative non-alcoholic jelly for my daughter (well…. it wouldn’t be right to ply her with alcohol at 9 would it?) and left the zest decoration off the top of the ‘straight’ cakes, both to distinguish which were hers and to avoid complaints about the ‘nasty orange peel stuff’ that she so dislikes.

I added no extra sugar to the jelly……. it is just juice (& Cointreau) and gelatine which makes it lovely and tart against the sponge and ganache, yet a perfect enhancement to the intended oranginess.

In fact, this cake is not over-sweet at all and with the exception of a little decadence slathered across the top in the form of a delicious, soft and sumptuous chocolate ganache, it could be considered reasonably healthy(ish)….. Well I can kid myself…. can’t I?

As comparisons go, the experience of eating these conjures immediate familiarity with the biscuit version…… but don’t kid yourself these are children’s party food…… this really is a very grown up ‘Jaffa’ cake indeed!

I am sharing these amazing orangey delights with a number of linkys :

Treat Petite this month with Stuart at Cakeyboi (& Kat at The Baking Explorer). May’s theme is Eurovision. The recipe for the orange cake used in these posh ‘Jaffas’ originates in Spain, but with Jewish alliance as a traditional passover cake. Jaffa Cakes are of course British in origin! Does that make them multi-cultural?

The Biscuit Barrel with Alexandra at The Lass in the Apron on behalf of I’d Much Rather Bake Than… May’s theme is Party. These little orange delights are perfect for any party spread.

Free From Fridays with Emma at the Free From Farmhouse.

Posh ‘Jaffa’ Cakes (makes approx 16 individual cakes)

Ingredients