How To Make An Awesome Jaffa Cake Cake
Hello! As you know, for Christmas I got a shiny new stand mixer that I could not stop gushing over. This week, I wanted to really test it out, so I developed this awesome Jaffa Cake cake to push the mixer and my limits. And boy did I! Someone should probably have reminded me that it’s January before I started and this might not be the ideal month to ask for trouble.
I say trouble, that’s not totally true it just turns out that when you use a stand mixer you lose the sense of touch to tell you when things are ready. Like, when whisking egg whites to soft peaks, I’ve never judged that by eye before. I usually get a feel for it while I’m whisking and then confirm it by pulling the blades out and seeing what happens. You can’t do that on a stand mixer. Meaning, I stopped the thing every 30 seconds to check if it was done yet. Any other month, I probably would have been like oh ok, this is a new challenge. Cool. Coo coo cool. January? Bloody hell, did I throw my toys out the pram or what? It was the worst news ever. All my instincts were useless. I was useless. You should never meet your heroes (or finally buy your coveted equipment in this case). Woe. Woe. Woe is me, to quote big Will.
Why is January such an arse? It starts off great, there’s new energy and enthusiasm, optimism too. One week in and you’re cold turkey on joy. Hopelessness and shame prevail. Except it’s even worse now because you know what it was like to have hope. One thoughtless comment this week literally had me wallowing for two entire days. Thankfully, I have this here blog so I had to pull myself out or risk skipping a week. It was touch and go for a minute though.
After a few failed attempts, my mojo mostly came back. I’m still a lot more cautious but I’m ready to work on this relationship. Me and the mixer just need to bond. Learn to trust each other. Has anyone else had such a rough adjustment? We can start a group; hand-mixers anonymous. We can all bring cake, it’ll be ace.
Even with the rough start, I’m still glad I made this cake. Jaffa cakes are one of my favourite treats so to make a giant version just hit all my happiness buttons. For the genoise sponge, I switched up the usual method of whisking the eggs and sugar over a pan of boiling water. Instead, I warmed the eggs in some hot water for a few minutes beforehand. This was purely so I could use the new mixer but if you’d rather go traditional, that’s absolutely fine. As for the taste, I LOVED it. But my sister has an issue with foods that have different textures so if that’s you, I would maybe stick with one of my more traditional cake recipes, you can find them here.
For the decoration, I kept it really simple with a little edible glitter in a half moon design. Remember the old Jaffa Cake advert? Full moon, half moon, total eclipse! Ah, it made me smile every single time. Whoever came up with that little bit of marketing genius, this is my edible salute to you and your skills.
What I learned this week; egg whites are fickle creatures and must be watched at all times lest you over whip. There is no recovery when the little blighters start weeping liquid. A little bit like me in January.
Ingredients
Genoise
10g of butter (melted)
2 eggs
60g caster sugar
60g plain flour
Orange Jelly
250ml orange juice (no pulp)
250ml water
70g sugar
12g gelatine powder
Chocolate Mousse
3 egg whites (pasteurised)
70g dark chocolate
15g caster sugar
Splash of lemon juice
Chocolate ganache
150g dark chocolate
100ml double cream
Gold sprinkles for decorating (optional)
Method
- Let’s start with the jelly as it takes the longest to set. Line a 12x8 inch tray with cling film.
- Add 250ml of water and 70g of sugar to a pan and heat on medium until the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Add 12g of gelatine powder and stir until it has all dissolved. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the pan, I got caught out by some rogue granules there.
- When the gelatine has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and stir in 250ml of orange juice.
- Pour the jelly into the lined tray and place in the fridge to set.
- On to the chocolate mousse, melt 70g of dark chocolate over a bain-marie.
- In a clean (preferably metal) bowl, whisk 3 egg whites and a small dash of lemon juice until the egg whites form soft peaks. At this stage, whisk in 15g of caster sugar. When it reaches a stiff peaks consistency, stop whisking. Over whisking at this stage will knock out the air that we desperately need.
- When the chocolate has melted, remove it from the heat.
- Mix a large tablespoon of the egg whites into the melted chocolate and beat it well. Make sure to be quick otherwise the temperature difference in the eggs could make the chocolate seize.
- Gently fold in the remainder of the egg whites with a metal spoon. Be careful not to overwork it or some of the air may be knocked out.
- Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge to set.
- The genoise sponge, line a 6-inch round cake pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 180C/160 Fan.
- Warm 2 eggs in a bowl of warm (not boiling) water for a few minutes.
- Add the warmed eggs and 60g of caster to a large bowl and whisk for 5-10 minutes. The mixture should triple in size and be really pale before you finish whisking.
- Sift in, 60g of plain flour and gently fold together. Lastly, very carefully fold in the melted butter, careful not to lose the air we beat into the eggs earlier.
- Pour the mix into the lined cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. When the cake is ready, leave it to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- When the sponge is completely cool, cut into three even layers.
- Use the bottom of a 6-inch cake pan to cut out two circles from the set jelly.
- Now line the pan with cling film. At the bottom, place one layer of sponge, followed by 1 disc of jelly and a spreading of mousse. The mousse should be roughly the same thickness as the jelly. Repeat each layer, adding one extra layer of sponge on top. Cover in cling film and place in the fridge to set.
- To a large, heat-proof bowl, add 150g of dark chocolate broken into small pieces.
- Over a medium heat, warm 100ml of double cream. When the cream is just bubbling, remove it from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Leave this for 5 minutes before mixing with a metal spoon or spatula. When the chocolate is completely mixed and melted, remove the cake from the fridge and pour over the ganache. Use a palette knife to smooth the edges and fill in any gaps.
- Finally, sprinkle with edible gold in a moon pattern and you’re done!
Another project down, you rock!
