The Jaffa Cake: a three-part confection of sponge base,
orangey jelly and a chocolate coating, and an English institution. If you've not encountered the Jaffa Cake before, it's around the size of a biscuit,
and goes rather well with cups of tea.
Is the Jaffa Cake a cake or a biscuit though? It may seem
like an idle question for pub bores and vegan bloggers (and vegan bloggers who are also pub bores) to debate, but it's worth several millions
of pounds. Seriously! You see, in the UK, chocolate covered biscuits are taxed, but
chocolate covered cakes are not.
The Jaffa Cake vs Jaffa Biscuit debate ended in a court case around 20 years ago, when
the company that makes Jaffa Cakes, McVities, fought to get the Jaffa Cake officially
declared a cake (and an un-taxable one at that). This required a thorough
examination of the orangey-treat at issue by those in the legal profession, who looked into all its defining characteristics including its
size, ingredients, attractiveness to children (?), presentation and whether is
goes stale, like a cake, or soggy, like a biscuit.
The judge ruled that the Jaffa Cake is indeed a cake, and so it
escaped a 20 percent levy, as cake is a
staple food (and shouldn't be taxed, according to the government) but biscuits
are a luxury (and you should pay more for the privilege, you filthy biscuit-eating spendthrifts, you!)
Alas, either way, Jaffa Cakes not vegan, so I've not had one for a
very long time.
That is, until I got my sweaty little mitts on a copy of Ms Cupcake:
The Naughtiest Vegan in Town, which, among its many sugary recipes, has the secret of vegan Jaffa Cakes within. (Important note: you can win a copy of said excellent book over on Vegan Mofo HQ if you get in there before 11pm UK time tonight.)
I set to work making small discs of sponge, waiting til they
were cool, topping with marmalade, and then melted vegan dark chocolate.
The
hardest part was waiting the 20 minutes until they were cool enough to eat. I
don't think most of them lasted another 20 minutes, to be honest. Yum. Cake? Biscuit? Who cares? They were amazing.
Expect more experiments with Ms Cupcake's work post-MoFo...
These look divine! Loving all of your mofo posts :)
ReplyDeleteOh yeah! Jaffa cakes are one of the things I wish would hurry and be veganised. Those look great.
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to make the Ms. Cupcake recipe! Everything of hers is awesome. Yours look delicious. I might have to make them tomorrow...
ReplyDeleteI'm loving that cake is a staple. I think I would eat all of these before they cooled!
ReplyDeleteI had quite a giggle when I heard the jaffa cake vs biscuit thing on QI- are you a fan too?
ReplyDeleteMy hubs is such a fan of jaffa cakes whenever I go home or friends or family visit he requests jaffa cakes! He's going to be thrilled when I make him some :) Thanks for the inspiration Joey! xxx
Your Mofo theme is exposing my woeful inadequacies in the English food department! I have to admit in 5 years in England I've never had a Jaffa cake! I definitely need that recipe. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the cake vs biscuit story, and that cakes are considered a staple item! They are in my house!
I used to love jaffa cakes when I was a youngster. That's so interesting about taxes on cakes vs biscuits, I'm loving your trivia filled posts almost as much as your fantastic food!
ReplyDeleteThis looks amazing! Also that's some nifty tax backstory. So much awesome English food I've never heard of!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting history; your taxing system is perplexing, but I can't argue with cake being a necessity. I have this book and I can't wait to dive in; this might be a good place to start, although I MAY have to sub the orange jam for....Biscoff?
ReplyDeleteI don't miss many biscuits but I do miss a jaffa cake. I think I'm going to make these for the next Cake Liberation meet up.
ReplyDeleteGreat story! It's good to know that cake is essential to the diet. So disappointed not to find a recipe. :( I may have to look up the book.
ReplyDeleteI love Ms Cupcake: The Naughtiest Vegan in Town and have a copy of it!!
ReplyDeleteI don't think these would last long in my house either - love your story about the taxation issue and how that has made jaffa cakes so much more than just a baked good and little morsel of deliciousness (strangely enough we once found them on sale in Australia but made somewhere odd like a middle eastern country)
ReplyDeleteHa ha, I can't believe they legally fought over whether it was a biscuit or cake. I've always wanted to try a jaffa cake ever since I saw a picture of it on some bakery website, I really need to get that book!
ReplyDeleteLOL at the legal stoush! But the main thing is those look amazing!
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