Jaffa Cakes

The Great British Bake Off is with us again so I thought I would give the first technical challenge a go. The recipe uses a fat-less sponge which makes each cake light and airy so little encouragement is needed for me to have more than one at a time without the guilt that a normal cake might bring!

The recipe I used is by Mary Berry (the Goddess that she is) however I made my own orange jelly from scratch just to experiment. They were actually a lot easier and quicker to make than I expected, the tempering of the chocolate taking the longest.

Makes 12 | prep time 1-2 hours (including jelly setting time) | cooking time 30 to 60 minutes

Ingredients

For the jelly

150ml orange juice (about 2 oranges)

Finely grated zest of an orange

½ tbsp sugar

11/2 gelatine leaf sheets

For the sponge

unsalted butter, for greasing

1 large free-range egg

25g caster sugar

25g self-raising flour, sifted

For the topping

180g plain chocolate (about 36% cocoa solids)

Method

1. For the jelly, heat (don't boil) the orange juice with the sugar and orange zest in a pan until the sugar dissolves. Soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl full of cold water for about 5 minutes, or until they are soft and pliable. Remove from the soaking water and squeeze out any excess water.

2. Stir the leaves into the warm orange juice. Pour the jelly into a shallow 30x20cm/12x8in tray. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour, or until set.

3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4 and grease a 12-hole, shallow bun tin with butter.

4. For the sponge, whisk the egg and sugar together for 4-5 minutes until pale and fluffy, then gently fold in the flour. Fill each well in the bun tin three-quarters full (about a dessert spoonful per hole) and smooth the tops. Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until well risen and the top of the sponges spring back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool in the tray for a few minutes then finish cooling on a wire rack.

5. Turn the jelly out onto a sheet of non-stick baking parchment. Cut 12 discs from the orange jelly using a 5cm/2in round cutter. Sit one jelly disc on top of each sponge.

6. To temper the chocolate, break the chocolate into pieces then place 2/3 in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Using a chocolate thermometer, first melt the chocolate to 40-45°C. When the chocolate has reached this temperature, remove the bowl from the heat and place it on a kitchen towel. Add the remaining chocolate a little at a time until the pieces cease to melt. Allow the chocolate to continue to cool down until it reaches 27-28°C. Then, bring the temperature back up to 31-32°C by placing the bowl back over the pan.

7. Spoon the melted chocolate over the jelly discs. Using the tips of the tines of a fork or a skewer, lightly press to create a criss-cross pattern on top of the chocolate, then leave to set completely (I didn't manage to create the fork print as the chocolate set too quickly).

8. Enjoy!