The Next Best Thing To Jaffa Cakes

I wanted Jaffa cakes. Unfortunately, I live in Nebraska and since the World Market closed all of their locations in Omaha (boo on you, World Market) I have nowhere to buy Jaffa Cakes. Oh sure, I could order then by Internet-but I wanted them today. So I baked a decent approximation.

I did a double layer of sponge on mine so that they really are more of a cake than a biscuit (oh gosh, no I'm not going to tread into that old debate of "Is it a cake or a biscuit?") though clearly, mine are cake-like. They're also less dry, having been baked this morning.

You will be left with extra cake scraps and ganache so I mixed the scraps with the remaining jelly and squished them into balls. Then, I dipped them in ganache to make Jaffa-esque truffles.

You Will Need:

For the sponge layer:

3 eggs, separated at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1 cup sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Confectioner's sugar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease and flour a jelly roll pan.

beat the egg yolks, granulated sugar and water until very light and thick. It should form a ribbon when dropped from beaters.

Gently sift the dry ingredients into the bowl and fold into the mixture.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold carefully into the first mixture. Pour into jelly roll pan and bake 8-10 minutes.

Dust a dishtowel with confectioner's (icing) sugar and gently loosen the cake from pan. Invert on towel to cool. If you were making a jelly-roll, you'd roll it in the towel at this point.

Let cool and then with a round cutter, make as many circles as you can. Set aside to be filled.

For the orange layer:

I melted down some blood orange jelly that I had, but you could melt marmalde and strain it, using only the clear part.

Place a small bit on the centre of a sponge cut-out and top with another. Set aside on a rack.



For the ganache:

13 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons corn syrup

Heat the corn syrup and cream until it just begins to steam. Pour over chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let stand five minutes, then whisk smooth.

Set the cakes on a rack over a baking sheet. You could use the same jelly-roll pan if you'd like to save dish washing. Pour the ganache carefully over and smooth with a butter knife. Real Jaffa Cakes are not chocolate on the sides, but with two layers of sponge, I thought these needed it to help secure them in place.





Set entire pan, with rack into the fridge for at least two hours to set. Store chilled and warm at room temperature a few minutes before serving.