Homemade Jaffa Cakes – A British classic. Biscuit sized cakes topped with an orange jelly and sealed with dark chocolate!
I love Jaffa Cakes. They are biscuit sized cakes that are topped with a tangy orange jelly, and sealed with a layer of dark chocolate. I am being serious when I say it’s not hard to eat a whole packet of them in one go.
They are that good, and addictive!
I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to try and bake up one of my favourite treats. Well, today’s the day, and I bring you my Homemade Jaffa Cakes.
These are incredibly easy to make with few ingredients. You just can’t go wrong. And dare I say, these taste just like Jaffa Cakes, if not better!
How to make Homemade Jaffa Cakes
Ingredients you’ll need:
- large eggs
- caster/granulated sugar
- vanilla extract
- plain/all-purpose flour
- orange juice
- sachet of gelatine
- dark chocolate
To make these Jaffa Cakes, place the sugar and orange juice into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Once the sugar has dissolved, sprinkle the gelatine on top and stir it in. Do not boil.
Line a muffin pan with aluminium foil, then pour 1 tablespoon of the orange mixture into each hole. Chill for 1 – 2 hours until set.
In a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, add the eggs and sugar and beat until pale and frothy – about 4 – 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, then stir in the vanilla, and fold in the flour.
Remove the jelly and foil from the muffin pan, and grease the pan for the cake mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, about 1 tablespoon of batter per muffin hole.
Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Gently remove the jellies from the foil. I shaped out smaller circles from the centre of the jellies before gently pulling them off the foil – You don’t have to, but I wanted my jelly slightly smaller than the cakes.
For the topping, microwave the chocolate until melted and smooth, stirring every 10 – 20 seconds. Allow to cool slightly, then using a spoon, spread the chocolate over the tops of the jelly, gently spreading to the edges of the cakes.
For looks, gently press the tines of a fork on top of the chocolate and lift up. Leave to set.
The printable recipe card with the full list of ingredients, their measurements, and instructions can be found at the bottom of this post.
NOTE: For best results, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup measurements. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough, and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
These Homemade Jaffa Cakes are:
- quick and easy to make
- deliciously soft and full of flavour
- perfect for sharing and gift-giving
How long will these Jaffa Cakes last? These Jaffa Cakes can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Can I freeze these Jaffa Cakes? Yes, they also freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Homemade Jaffa Cakes
Ingredients
For the Cakes
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup (50g) caster/granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (60g) plain/all-purpose flour
For the Filling
- ¼ cup (50g) caster/granulated sugar
- ½ cup 120ml orange juice
- 1 sachet (12g) gelatine
For the Topping
- ¾ cup (130g) dark chocolate, chopped
Instructions
For the Filling
- Place the sugar, and orange juice into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Once the sugar has dissolved, sprinkle the gelatine on top and stir it in. Do not boil.
- Line a muffin pan with aluminium foil, then pour 1 tablespoon of the orange mixture into each hole. Chill for 1 – 2 hours until set.
For the Cakes
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- In a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, add the eggs and sugar and beat using a hand mixer until pale and frothy – about 4 – 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, then stir in the vanilla, and fold in the flour.
- Remove the jelly and foil from the muffin pan. Grease the pan for the cake mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, about 1 tablespoon of batter per muffin hole.
- Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cakes are cool, gently remove the jellies from the foil. I shaped out smaller circles from the centre of the jellies before gently pulling them off the foil. You don’t have to, but I wanted my jelly slightly smaller than the cakes.
For the Topping
- Microwave the chocolate until melted and smooth, stirring every 10 – 20 seconds. Allow to cool slightly, then using a spoon, spread the chocolate over the tops of the jelly, gently spreading to the edges of the cakes.
- For looks, gently press the tines of a fork on top of the chocolate and lift up. Leave to set.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I never knew what these were called in English, but oh how excited am I to try this! Thank you so much for this recipe, they look just like the PIM biscuits of my childhood.
Regarding Jaffa cake recipe: why do you call for beating the eggs and sugar over simmering water? I scrambled my first batch of eggs. I was careful with the second batch, although I thought the end result could have been the same frothy egg with a simple electric mixer.
Hello, I made these today . While I liked them, I found the cake base to be just too dense and all flour. Maybe not cooking the egg and sugar mix would give a softer cake. I would try it making it again.
I know you state that orange marmalade is not in the recipe, but to save the trouble of making orange jelly and if I have orange marmalade on hand, is it possible to substitute marmalade for the jelly?
You can, yes.
So I was so excited for this recipe since it calls for OJ instead of jelly packets (not sure where to get those in NY). I followed the recipe exactly but found that I still needed to double the recipe for the orange jelly portion in order to make enough for 12 disks. Did anyone else have this problem?
Sorry you had a little trouble with the orange jelly. I hope you enjoyed the Jaffa Cakes! 🙂
We just tried it and had exactly the same issue!
Hi Marsha – If you use prepared raspberry jam, do you simply spoon it on the cake or do you need to add gelatin and make discs? Also, do you have a favorite Lindt chocolate that you use for these biscuits? Thank you!
Hi Theresa! Yes, you do need to use gelatine. Using jam wouldn’t work out as well as the juice with gelatine (I know it’s fiddly, but it’s worth it). I love Lindt Excellence 70 Cocoa Dark Chocolate for these 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi Marsha, Being the weekend I’ve just been playing around looking at different sites for recipes and came across yours. You wouldn’t guess, I’ve done this while eating half a whole packet of bought Jaffa Cakes. No more, I’ll be making yours from now on, by the “DOZENS”. They are to “DIE” for, my one addiction and then I have to hold myself back from buying them even once a month when I go shopping. I get mine from Aldi, but no more.
Hi Josephine, I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
What amount (US standard of measure) of gelatin is the equivalent to one sachet?
1 sachet is about 12g (about 1 tablespoon) of powdered gelatine.
12 g ended up being too much for me using the Knox original gelatins powder. It came out quite rubbery unfortunately. I’ll probably try to use only one packet next time (7g), and see if that works better.
What is the American equivalent of a sachet of gelatin? Is it simply unflavored powdered gelatin? Thanks!
Yes 🙂
Hi. How do you cover the jelly with melted chocolate without the heat from the chocolate re-melting the jelly.
I failed! Result was a jelly chocolate mix running off the top before anything set.
De-constructed, the taste was great….
Hi Ann! I would leave the melted chocolate to cool for about 5 minutes before coating the jelly centres. The jelly shouldn’t melt whatsoever though. Hope that helps!
Looks good! Can’t wait to try! Do you use freshly squeezed orange juice or store-bought?
You can use either! 🙂
HI Marsha. Thank you for posting this. I had Pim’s biscuits today for the first time and wanted to recreate them. The ones I had were raspberry jelly. Any ideas how I could switch it up?
To make raspberry jelly instead of orange, replace the orange juice in the ingredients list with 1 cup (125g) fresh raspberries, and 100ml water.
Place the sugar, raspberries, and water into a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Once the sugar has dissolved, stir well to break down the raspberries. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl to remove the seeds and pulp. Stir in the gelatine. Follow on with the recipe 🙂
OR you could simply prepare some store-bought raspberry jam!
Just what I wanted to read! I love the raspberry Jaffa cakes! Thank you.
A wonderful friend in Ireland has sent me Jaffa cakes—they’re to DIE for!! That said, isn’t the UK equivalent of “caster sugar” “powdered sugar” here in the U.S.? And the recipes from the UK all call for “self-rising flour” so why no baking powder or baking soda in this recipe? And what kind of chocolate did you use—is it baker’s chocolate or regular dark chocolate candy of some kind, just melted?? Thanks so much!!
Is that dark unsweetened chocolate
Hi Kathy! Caster sugar is your granulated sugar, while powdered sugar is our icing sugar 🙂 I didn’t use self-raising flour or any baking powder or baking soda, because I didn’t want the little cakes to rise. Also, I just used a regular dark chocolate bar melted. I love using the Lindt brand. 🙂 I hope you enjoy!
Thanks ever so much, Marsha! I’m going to try this as soon as I’m not working every day! YUM!!!
I hope you enjoy! 🙂
Hi Marsha!
Will make this recipe soon! I will use agar-agar for the jelly as I’m vegetarian.
Do you use compound chocolate or real chocolate (with cocoa butter)?
I hate tempering chocolate!
Hope you are safe in lockdown
Sam x
I use real chocolate. My favourite brands are Lindt, Callebaut, and Green & Black’s.
You too, Sam!
Enjoy 🙂
I CANNOT wait to try these (sorry for yelling…). My Mum is from Scotland – so every time she’d visit family in the UK she’d come home to Canada with a suitcase of Jaffa Cakes and Penguin Biscuits. I’m lucky enough that my cousins will occasionally send a care package of UK treats – but now I can make my own!!! These look amazing
Thanks, Fiona! 🙂
These are so pretty! I love the idea!
Thanks, Miranda!
Girrrrl ~ Just found your web site from a Pinterest pin! Wow… can’t wait to start trying your recipies!
Thanks, Jamie!
I’m not familiar with Jaffa Cakes, but I’m certain I’d love them because orange and chocolate is the best combo ever 😉 These are so gorgeous, Marsha!
Thanks, Megan! 🙂
I’ve never had a Jaffa cake before… shoot I’ve never even heard of them until now! Where have these been all my life?! They look absolutely delicious, Marsha! Cheers and thanks for introducing me to something new!
Thanks, Cheyanne! You’re welcome! 😉
These gorgeous jaffa cakes are truly divine.. Looks great Marsha!!!
Thanks, Puja!
Oh my gosh! I’ve wanted to try Jaffa cakes for the longest time. I’m excited to try to make them. They look soooo good!
Thanks, Amanda!
clever clogs! I became addicted to Jaffa Cakes when I lived in the UK a lifetime ago. These look even better than the real thing.
Thanks, Belle! 🙂
i don’t know about these, but i want to! what a delicious combination, and they’re quite pretty too!
Thanks, Grace!
Jaffa Cakes are soo addictive. I love them too. Thanks for the sharing the recipe. These look fantastic! You even put that little strips on the top… perfect. Pinning, yummling, stumbling. The World needs to see this 😉
Thanks so much, Natalie! 🙂
These are so adorable!
Thanks, Kathy!
oh-ma-gawd! these look so insanely delicious! Why are you not my next door neighbor?
Haha, thanks Lisa!
Marsha, I love the idea of this dessert. I really like the surprise inside!
Thanks, Peter!
I love how easy and delicious these cakes are! I have never had Jaffa cakes but they look like something I would love to try!
Thanks, Shadi!
How much marmalade please?
Sorry, just corrected the recipe! No marmalade here 🙂
Is it pure orange juice you use for Orange middle for jaffa cakes
You can use either pure orange juice, or store-bought.
These are beautiful. Love the tip about using the fork tines for the design.
Thanks, Amanda!
Isn’t it the best though, when you finally make your own version of a fave treat? The BEST. So satisfying. Okay, so I’ve only vaguely ever hear of Jaffa cakes. But on your version alone, I’m gonna need that to my Must Try list. Marsha, these look incredible! And that photo of you putting melted chocolate over the jelly. *Heart eyes* Just sayin’. 🙂 Pinning, of course! xo
Thanks, Demeter! You must try these! 🙂