Home Made Gluten-Free Jaffa Cakes
The Classic Biscuit that’s a bit… cakey!
Make your own yummy Jaffa cakes with your favourite chocolate. We have used a natural vegetarian setting agent called VegeSet to make the orange jelly filling. It is a simple powder that you sprinkle into your liquid and bring to the boil. It sets really quickly too! This recipe does require a little patience and a delicate hand, but it’s well worth the effort. You can even change the jelly filling and choose a different flavour jam such as raspberry, apricot or strawberry.
This recipe makes around 20 standard sized Jaffa Cakes – ie. similar in size to the shop-bought ones.
Organic Virgin Coconut Oil 500ml (Sussex Wholefoods)
150g coconut oil
Sukrin Gold Sweetener 250g (Sukrin)
150g Sukrin Gold
Gluten Free Self-Raising White Flour 1kg (Doves Farm)
150g gluten-free self-raising flour
Vanilla Paste 100ml (LittlePod)
Half a tsp of vanilla paste
Orange Extract 60ml (Nielsen Massey)
2-4 drops of orange extract
VegeSet Vegetarian Setting Agent 25g (Just Wholefoods)
1 tsp vegan setting agent
Blood Orange Fruit Spread, Organic 284g (Meridian)
1 jar blood orange spread
72% Probiotic Dark Chocolate 38g (Ombar)
3-4 bars of Ombar chocolate
Organic Raw Cacao Butter 250g (Sussex Wholefoods)
20-50g of raw cacao butter
Other Ingredients
Milk or milk substitute to mix
3 eggs
Method
1) Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade/Fan 190/Gas Mark 6.
2) Using a macaroon tin or shallow bun tin, line each base with a circle of greased baking parchment. Ideally it’s best to have two macaroon tins or instead you will have to bake the cakes in two batches. Alternatively use a flat baking tray and you will need a cookie cutter.
3) Soften the coconut oil slightly in the microwave. Set aside. Then spread baking parchment paper into the base of a rimmed baking tray. Set this aside.
4) In a measuring jug empty the contents of the jar of marmalade. Gradually add cold water, keep stirring until you have reached the 1 pint mark. Then add the drops of Orange Extract and teaspoon of VegeSet Powder and stir.
5) Pour this mixture into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring briskly all the time. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture carefully onto the baking tray. Set aside to cool. The mixture will start to solidify quite quickly, so you don’t need to put it in the fridge.
6) Mix together the butter and sugar using a food processor or by hand in a mixing bowl.
7) Then add the eggs and vanilla paste and gradually blend in the flour. Mix well. Add some milk/milk substitute so that the cake mix develops a dropping consistency. Gluten-free flour will usually require a little extra moisture and its best to add this via milk rather than more butter or oil.
8) Spoon a small amount of cake mixture into each macaroon/bun tin and place in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes. Gently lay each cake onto a cooling rack.
9) Once you have baked all the cake mix into little cakes (or cut out the cakes using a 2¼ inch/ 58mm circular cutter) take a smaller circular cookie cutter (we used a 1⅞ inch/ 48mm) and cut out circles from the orange jelly mixture. Using a palette knife or ordinary kitchen knife (not chopping knife), transfer a circle carefully on top of each cake.
10) Take the Ombar chocolate bars and break them into rough pieces into a bain marie. Stir gently until they have all melted. You will notice that the consistency of the melted chocoalte is not that runny. This is where adding some raw cacao butter will help loosen the mix nicely! Stir in just enough to make the chocolate nice and runny.
11) Place each cake onto fresh baking parchment/grease-proof paper and gently spoon chocolate over each Jaffa cake. You may need to pick up each one to allow you to more evenly spread the chocolate over the top – use the back of a dessert spoon. As the chocolate topping starts to solidify you can come back to each cake and drizzle lines over the top as a finishing touch.
12) If you wish, you can place the cakes in the fridge to help the chocolate topping solidify more quickly. Store in an airtight container. These are best eaten within 2 or 3 days.
