Jaffa Cake Cake...

This is a good one! You want to make this... it's amazing! I've got this friend who adores Jaffa Cakes... I made this cake with him in mind and I'll definitely be baking one specially for him.

It's basically a giant Jaffa Cake.... moist orange cake, topped with orange jelly and chocolate.... perfect if you're looking for a cake to bake for friends. It's a bit WOW, and they'll never believe that it's not loaded with sugar... best of all... it's really simple to make! 

For the cake:

• 2 large oranges
• 6 eggs
• 5 tbsp raw organic honey
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 275g ground almonds
• 2 tsp gluten free baking powder

Start by placing the oranges into a large saucepan. Cover with water & bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 2 hours. 

Once you have boiled the oranges, drain the water and allow them to cool. I chopped them into chunks as they'll cook a lot faster than the whole oranges. 

Preheat oven to 170d (fan). Line a 9 inch cake tin with greaseproof paper. 

When the oranges are fully cooled, using a stick blender/food processor, purée the oranges until smooth & set aside. 

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla & honey together until pale & frothy. 

Next fold in the cooled orange purée slowly. 

Finally add the ground almonds & baking powder. Stir gently until just combined. 

Pour the mixture into prepared tin & bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. (Ground almonds can burn quite easily as it cooks so if you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly, place a sheet of tin foil over the top of the cake to protect it.) 

You can check to make sure the cake is baked by sliding a skewer into the centre.... if it comes out with no cake batter on it, then it's ready. If not, place it back in the oven for another couple of minutes... different ovens vary so just use 1 hour as a guide :) 

Allow the cake to cool & firm up in the tin for 5 minutes. You can then remove it and allow to cool on a wire rack.

For the Jaffa topping: 

• juice of 3 large oranges
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp Irish honey
• 100ml water 
• 2 sachets of powdered gelatin (12g sachet x 2) 

Line an 8" round tin with cling film. 

Mix the first 5 ingredients together and heat to just before boiling point. 

Remove approx 150ml of the hot liquid and place in a separate shallow bowl. 

Sprinkle the 2 sachets of gelatin over the hot liquid & set aside to dissolve for 5 minutes. Once fully dissolved, stir gently to ensure there are no lumps remaining. 

Pour the gelatin mixture back into the remaining liquid gradually, whisking constantly to prevent the gelatin forming lumps or strings in the mixture.  

Once fully combined, pour into the prepared tin & place in the fridge until set.

To assemble: 

• 125g dark chocolate (minimum 81% cocoa solids)

I sliced the cake in half horizontally & iced with my Chocolate Sweet Potato icing . 

This is totally optional (and probably a little OTT!). The cake would be amazing even if you just follow the next couple of steps.. 

Simply invert the Jaffa jelly disc onto the centre of the cake. 

Melt 125g dark chocolate and spread evenly over the top of the jelly. 

Don't worry about the chocolate flowing down the sides of the cake... 

Allow the chocolate to set before serving. Store this cake in the fridge. 

Orange Chocolate Cake..

So this is basically a Terry's Chocolate Orange bar in cake form! I'm not going to name names....but there was plate licking from one of my official taste testers so it must be good!!

The photos speak for themselves...give it a go & let me know how you get on :)

For the cake:

• 150g butter, melted
• 3 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 large orange
• juice of 1/2 orange
• 3 large eggs, separated 
• 160g ground almonds
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder & 1 tbsp of reserved orange juice

Line a 7 inch springform cake tin with baking parchment. Preheat oven to 160d (fan).

Start by mixing the melted butter, honey, vanilla, zest & juice together.

Add the yolks & beat well. (Make sure the butter mixture is cooled or the yolks will begin to cook when you add them).

Stir in the ground almonds & baking powder. Mix until just combined.

Next whisk the egg whites in a clean, grease free bowl (sounds obvious that the bowl should be clean right?? well it needs to be sparkling or the egg whites won't form smooth peaks)..

Fold the egg whites into the cake mixture gently. Do this in 3 stages to make it easier to fully incorporate into the mixture.

Finally, divide the mixture between two bowls. Add 3 tbsp of cocoa & 1 tbsp orange juice to one half of the mixture and stir until just combined.

Place heaped spoonfuls of the cake mixture into the prepared tin, alternating between each flavour. When you have used up all the mixture, using a skewer or sharp knife swirl the mixture gently to create a marble effect. Don't overdo it, or you'll over-mix the flavours and there'll be a less defined effect.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes until well risen and firm. I keep saying this, but it's really important to keep an eye on your cake. Oven temperatures really do vary so cooking times will also vary.

Once baked, remove from the tin & allow to cool on a wire rack.

This cake really doesn't need icing or decoration. The addition of the orange zest & juice make it wonderfully moist so it's perfect as it is. You could of course drizzle some melted dark chocolate over the top though!