HOW DO YOU MAKE DIY JAFFA CAKES?
(and is it worth the effort?)
THEY’RE small, curvy, with a juicy centre, dressed in an irresistible chocolate coating and loved by all — even by the likes of cake dictator Mary Berry herself. The Jaffa Cake is a nothing short of a national treasure. And, now, since the Bake Off judges this week set the hopeful contestants the mindboggling technical challenge of making one from scratch, it has provoked a furore of reactions, the main one being: is it really possible to improve on perfection?
If the contestants’ attempts on Wednesday night were anything to go by, the answer is doubtful. Three of them couldn’t even work out which side of the sponge the slivers of orange jelly filling sits on. It’s the FLAT top, for goodness sake!
McVitie’s invented the Jaffa in 1927 and it is still made in its factory in Stockport on a production line that needs to be over a mile long to keep up with our demands. It is the biggest-selling tea time treat in the UK. Worldwide, a billion of them are consumed every year.
The real Jaffa has more than 20 ingredients, few of which can be found in your larder and most of which are probably bad for us but make it taste delicious. Mary Berry’s recipe has a mere six ingredients, all of which can be found in the average family’s store cupboard.
In the McVitie’s factory, they churn out 2,000 Jaffa cakes a minute. According to her recipe (you can find it online at dailymail. co. uk/ jaffacakes), Mary Berry’s homemade version takes two hours.
Which begs the question: is life too short to make your own Jaffa Cakes?
SAM TAYLOR found out . . .
PESKY JELLY
YOUR first step in making a Jaffa Cake starts with the jelly disc, as that takes the longest to set.
I think the last time I ate jelly was in the Sixties, when my sisters and I used to sneak into the larder and teari off great lumps.
I am relieved to see the method for preparing it hasn’t changed: you melt it in boiling water, then leave it to set.
The only difference is, this is poured into a tray to give it the right thickness and also I add the zest of a whole jaffa orange for the unique flavour. It then has to go in the fridge for an hour.
TROUBLESOME SPONGE
THE world divides into two types of people: those who can get their sponge to set and do what it’s told, and those who can’t. I fall into the latter category, so like Bake Off contestant Candice Brown, I had to bin my first batch of sponges.
At this point, I had considered running to the shops and buying a packet of Jaffa Cakes, scrapping off the topping and passing the sponge off as my own. But I persevered.
Each little sponge is cooked in its own compartment in a bun tin, which are three-quarters filled and levelled off with a palette knife before placing in the oven, giving it a slightly domed bottom and flat top.
My batch, although I suspect they wouldn’t pass muster with Paul Hollywood, was good enough for me.
TRICKY ASSEMBLY
OnCE the sponges are cooled, I turn them out onto a wire rack, then set about cutting perfect small circles out of the jelly with a pastry cutter.
These are then placed, right side up, onto the sponges ready for the chocolate topping. I am supposed to pour melted cooking chocolate on top of the cakes to give it its signature coating. This is not easy.
Jelly is very slippery, and hot chocolate is very runny. It keeps sliding off, melting the jelly and taking it with it. In the end, I cheated and added icing sugar to the chocolate to make it stick. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
THE FINAL VERDICT
PERSOnALLY, and I know that it’s not polite to boast about your own cooking, but I am rather proud of the result. Admittedly, it has taken me four hours instead of Mary’s two, but I got there in the end.
However, in the absence of a TV crew, ten million viewers and the world’s toughest duo of baking judges, for a second opinion I have to rely instead on my eight-year-old daughter, Georgie.
So what does she prefer, shopbought, or Mummy’s homemade? After eating both, she ruminates for a bit and then says: ‘Yours are the best, Mummy. But I don’t mind if you never make them again.’
Thank Heavens for that.