Feeling Zesty

In college, I interned for the Marketing Science Institute and my manager brought in a packet of Pim’s. I ate one and was instantly hooked - a soft biscuit topped with an orange jelly, covered in chocolate. Orange and chocolate are two of my favorite combinations.

Throughout the years after my first encounter, I looked for Pim’s in grocery stores and when I found them, I often hesitated to buy them because of their artificial ingredients.

But a couple years ago, I learned about jaffa cakes while watching The Great British Bake Off. I’ve been wanting to make them ever since. I finally committed to making them during the holidays this year and they are, hands-down, the best tasting dessert I’ve ever made. Perfect for Christmas, might I add.

Below, I modified Mary Berry’s recipe a tad. I know, sacrilege! But, I didn’t have white sugar on hand and was too lazy to whisk the egg and sugar first.

My version uses coconut sugar, the zest of two oranges, a blender, and US units of measurement.

Ingredients for the jelly

Juice of 3 large navel oranges

Zest of 2 large navel oranges

2 tablespoons of sugar-free apricot jam (I used Bionaturae)

2 teaspoons of coconut sugar

2 scoops of Vital Proteins gelatin powder

Ingredients for the sponge

Unsalted butter, for greasing the muffin tin

3 large eggs

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1 cup of coconut sugar

1.25 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

Ingredients for the topping

1.5 cups of semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Make the jelly at least an hour beforehand by stirring together all the jelly ingredients on low heat. When the gelatin is completely dissolved, pour the mixture into a 9x9 pan. Chill in the fridge until set.

2. For the sponge, blend together all of the sponge ingredients until smooth and airy. This will take a few minutes. Pour evenly into the greased muffin tin (about 2/3 full). Bake in a pre-heated oven at 355 degrees Fahrenheit for 14 minutes. When testing whether the sponge is done, the sponge will slightly stick to the knife even when it’s fully cooked.

3. While the sponge is cooling, melt the chocolate chips in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Remove the bowl from the heat just as half the chips are melting. Leave the melted chocolate to cool and thicken slightly.

4. Cut 12 discs from the orange jelly. I used my blender’s lid plug. Place one jelly dish on top of each sponge.

5. Spoon the melted chocolate over the jelly discs.

6. Place the cakes in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.

7. Enjoy! They are beautiful with tea and coffee.