Here is my easy vegan Jaffa Cakes! Only 6 ingredients, 10 minutes to bake and absolutely delicious! A British classic that absolutely needed to be veganised.
Hi friends! Growing up I was obsessed with Jaffa cakes and to this day orange and chocolate is one of my favourite flavour combinations! (I’m still waiting for them to release a vegan version of Terry’s Chocolate Orange!)
Veganising this recipe was relatively straight-forward. The cake base doesn’t need to be supper fluffy or light so we don’t need to use any odd ingredients to provide airiness. Also, the topping is just dark chocolate which is usually vegan anyway!
There are two ways to make the orange jelly layer and I’ll describe them both here! First option is the easy option which you’ll see in the recipe below: marmalade! Marmalade is a pre-made orange jam that is bursting with zingy orange flavour that gives Jaffa cakes their classic flavour. I would recommend this method as it’s super home-baker friendly and only requires 1 ingredient! If you’re looking for a more ambitious project though then keep reading!
Another option is to make your own jelly using agar! By doing this, you get to control the flavour, amount of sugar and mostly importantly the shape! Agar is a popular vegan substitute for gelatin and is derived from seaweed. Read more about it here. Agar agar jelly is a slightly different texture to gelatin-based jelly; some people love it, some people hate it. It has less wobble then gelatin and slightly more “bite” to it but it functions perfectly as a jelly nonetheless.
*Recipe note: agar flakes to powder conversion:
1 tsp of powdered agar = 1/3 cup agar strings = 1 tbsp agar flakes =will set 350ml (1 1/3 cup of liquid) into a firm jelly. Use slightly less agar for a softer jelly but too little and the jelly will fall apart.
Recipe for orange jelly using agar:
Ingredients:
200g orange juice
40g sugar
1/4 tsp agar agar powder
Method:
Line a flat baking tray with clingfilm so that the jelly can be poured into it.
Mix the agar agar powder with the sugar (this helps with dispersion) and then add to the orange juice in a pot on the stove. Mix on medium-low heat up to a simmer and then take off the heat (the agar won’t work unless you reach boiling point.)
Pour the jelly into the baking tray lined with clingfilm then leave in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
Use a cookie cutter or anything circular you can find in your kitchen (bottle tops, small cups, etc.) to cut the jelly into circles.
If you want these Jaffa cakes to really *pop* then I would recommend creating a simple sugar syrup (water, sugar, orange flavouring) and painting it on the cakes before the jelly layer. This will add extra moisture and flavour to the simple cake.
Let’s get started!
Vegan Jaffa Cakes
The irresistible chocolate orange British classic made vegan! Vegan Jaffa cakes are the easiest thing to whip and with only 6 ingredients and 10 minutes of baking, you'll be eating them in no time!
Ingredients
- 80g self-raising flour
- 80g caster sugar
- 100ml plant milk
- 30ml veg oil
- (pinch of salt)
- 100g marmalade (without peel)
- 150g chocolate
Directions
- Step 1 Pre-heat oven to 180C (350F). Grease a muffin/cupcake tray with vegetable oil.
- Step 2 Sieve all the dry cake ingredients together and mix in a bowl.
- Step 3 Combine all wet ingredients (milk and veg oil) and add to the dry ingredients.
- Step 4 Whisk together for 30 seconds or at least until the mixture is completely smooth.
- Step 5 Scoop 1tbsp of batter into each muffin hole.
- Step 6 Bake for 10 minutes at 180C until lightly golden brown. Take them out the oven and leave them to cool. Use a toothpick to pop the cakes out of the tray.
- Step 7 Scoop a tablespoon of marmalade and place it onto each cake. Carefully and accurately flatten it out to a disc and place the cakes into the freezer for 30 minutes to fuse the jelly to the cake.
- Step 8 Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie or in the microwave using 30 second bursts.
- Step 9 Take the cakes out of the freezer and dip them upside down into the melted chocolate. Work quickly as the cakes will start to warm up and the jelly could fall off.
- Step 10 Score criss-crosses on the top of each cake with a hot fork or knife and serve/eat them all yourself!
These were soo delicious and so easy to make!! I’ve never had a Jaffa Cake before but once I saw they were chocolate and orange, I knew I had to make them! The perfect combination! I’ll be making these again for sure. Thank you for sharing! 💕
So so so good! The cake is light and fluffy and the chocolate is perfect. I’ve been missing these treats since I went vegan and it’s the first time I’ve been able to satisfy that craving. I used the marmalade but mine didn’t have enough of a chocolate orange flavour, I’ll try the Agar next time. Texture is perfect and they are so morish. Thanks for a great recipe
Honestly…. so simple to make and absolutely delicious! They taste even better than the M&S Jaffa’s that were our family’s special treat before we decided to follow a plant based diet! Thank you Project Vegan – this recipe has made us so happy!
Hi Sally! Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback. Glad you loved them! Hope you have a great weekend. Tom
Can these be frozen to eat at a later date? Many thanks!
Hi! I’ve not tried this but I can’t see any reason why not. I would recommend freezing in an airtight container for up to 1 month and then defrosting in the fridge for a day before serving!