Hey my guys! How is everyone doing during this lockdown? I hope you’re all thriving, or at least getting through it as sanely as possible. I had my first major breakdown last week. It’s not actually happened for a while but this night my emotions got the best of me and I uuuugly cried in to my pillow. It was just huge racking sobs and I just really hoped that I wouldn’t wake my kids. Kyle thankfully was on night shift so it was just me. I fell asleep from the pure exhaustion of it, had some crazy dreams, but in the morning I felt so much better. Eager to start my day with a clear and happy head, and heart. Burning incense, reading, exercising and creating. And making sure I’m not going too hard on myself when I just feel like eating cookies and drinking coffee all day 🙈
I’ve been going through all my vegan cookbooks in this gorgeous sunshine and I came across a Jaffa cake recipe that I though I would try from Ms. Cupcakes Naughtiest Cakes in Town. I used her base recipe for the sponge but because I wanted a gourmet kind of Jaffa cake, and also I had zero marmalade in the house, I made a beautiful vegan orange jelly for the centre. Very much like the store bought Jaffa cake, except BETTER! Guys I’m not even a huge chocolate orange fan but THIS. Absolutely STUNNING. I mean, I could have consumed the whole batch. But I promised to drop some off with some of my favourite people so…
Any way. If you have marmalade, it’s much easier and I’m sure will taste beautiful as well. But if you’re feeling a bit adventurous, absolutely try making this very easy yet fancy orange jelly…you will need agar agar, which I get online. It’s fairly cheap and you don’t need much so it’s worth it as a lot of vegan recipes use agar agar to substitute the gelatin..because I really don’t like the idea of boiled pig skin in my desserts 🥺🤷🏻♀️
So here we are! The recipe is below. Along with a little video too! And if you love Chocolate Orange, you will love this spectacular Chocolate Orange Cupcake Candle available at Donut Eat Bakery.
Vegan Jaffa Cakes
Ingredients
- 250 ml fresh orange juice
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 1 tsp Agar Agar
- 50 g sugar
For the Cake:
- 100 g Self Raising Flour
- 60 g sugar
- 100 ml Plant milk Any will do, soy, oat, almond etc
- 50 ml vegetable oil
Chocolate Ganache
- 150 g dairy free chocolate chips
- 50 g vegan butter or margarine
- zest of half an orange
Instructions
- Make the Jelly:In a smaull saucepan heat 125 ml water and 1tsp of Agar Agar. Once dissolved, add the orange juice, extract, and sugar. Heat until the mixture reaches a simmer. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Line a jelly roll pan with clingfilm. Make sure the clingfilm comes up the sides of the pan.
- Slowly pour the slightly cooled orange mixture in to the pan. Let cool either at room temperature or in the fridge. It should take about an hour or 2 to set.
- Make the cake Mixture:In a Small bowl mix the sugar, self raising flour and a pinch of salt. Add the plant milk and vegetable oil. Mix until you have a smooth batter.
- Spoon about a Tablespoon of batter in to a greased muffin or bun tin. Bake at 180 degrees C until golden brown (about 8 minutes). Let cool.
- Using a circle cutter roughly the same size or smaler than your cakes, cut out 1 jelly disc per cake. Using an offset spatula, place one disc on to the flatside of each cake.
- Melt 150grams of dairy free chocolate (I use Callebaut) and 50grams of vegan butter or margarine. Microwave or heat on a bain marie until the chocolate is JUST melted. If you overheat the chocolate you can risk burning it and your chocolate will have an unatrractive 'bloom' or white streak through it. Mix until all the butter is incorporated and you have a lovely shiny ganache.Add the zest and mix in.
- Let the chocolate cool slightly then spoon over each cake until the jelly is covered.let the chocolate set...or not, and enjoy! You're done!
Notes
