Orange jelly mini cakes

“Oh, well, finally…!” ? I said to myself.

It has taken me a good while to come to posting this orange jelly mini cakes recipe which is one of my top favourite treats. I almost called the recipe homemade Jaffa cakes but they are not quite as the ones in the shop, they are a few million times better ? and I say that only because they have no nasty additives in them.

Folks, you may not quite believe this but these are soooooo easy to make (despite the kilometric recipe) and they only require 5-6 ingredients, depending on whether you choose to use a ready made jelly or make your own… But either ways, it is still a small number of ingredients that you will need in order to make these beautiful treats and put them on the table.

With this recipe, you can easily prepare 24 cakes and yes, I did dare to say, it serves 8 people, but that is not the reality in my household, the reality is that it hardly satisfies four – I always need to sacrifice myself and get my portion tucked in by two little munchaaas.

Kids… hey… such sweet little smashers – they do make these mini cakes disappear in seconds, so if I ever want some left, I need to go double portion.

Whether they are for Christmas ? or for Easter ?, a birthday ? or just an everyday treat, go for it. You will absolutely love these tiny jelly cakes. They are yum!

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5 from 1 vote

Orange jelly mini cakes

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 8

Author Ramona Sebastian

Ingredients

For the sponge:

• 4 eggs
• 90 g sugar
• 2/3 tsp vanilla extract
• 120 g flour (sieved if using plain white)
• 2 ml coconut oil (melted) for greasing

For the jelly:

• 250 ml orange juice (freshly squeezed and strained)
• 100 g sugar
• 25 g gelatin
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 5 ml coconut oil (melted) for greasing

For the topping:

• 250 g dark chocolate (melted)

Instructions

For the jelly:

• I always start by making the jelly because this needs to set and it needs to set for about 1.5 - 2 hours regardless whether you make it from scratch or use a ready made jelly.
• Cut 2-4 (depending on size) fresh oranges into half and squeeze the juice out. Strain the juice through a fine strainer and pour in a sauce pan that you will need to place on low heat as you should not get this to boil.
• Add the sugar (100g), put in the gelatin and stir until both sugar and the gelatin have melted.
• Take out a cupcake silicone tray (24 holes) and pour into each hole 1-2 tbsp (depending how big/deep the tbsp is - but the thickness of the jelly should be of around 3mm).
• Place this on a flat surface in the fridge or somewhere cool to chill. Allow it 1-2 hours to set and coagulate - check from time to time as in the fridge this will get ready quicker.

For the sponge/cake:

• Start by preheating the oven at 180C/350F or Gas mark 4.
• Place a pot containing water over medium/low heat and allow it to simmer over which place a glass bowl in which we will be mixing the eggs, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt using a free standing electric mixer. Mix for about 4 minutes until the eggs are nice and frothy.
• Remove this from the heat, place on a towel on desktop and using a spatula slowly fold in the flour.
• Grease lightly a 24 hole muffin tray and spoon in the batter - again 1 or 2 tbsp depending on how big/small this is but the batter should be no thicker than 3-4mm.
• Bake for 10-12 min.
• Remove from the oven, set aside for a few minutes and then take one by one out and place on a wire rack.

For the chocolate topping:

• Melt the chocolate however method you wish (microwave or on the stove over simmering water) and set aside.

Assembling the cookies:

• We need to put those delights together now by placing the jelly (cut/shape into smaller circles if you wish) over the cake/sponge and then using a spoon, spread gently and carefully (to cover the jelly entirely) the chocolate all the way until you almost reach the edges. The chocolate should be slightly cooler as if it is too hot it is runny and difficult to handle. Make some nice Jaffa cake patterns if you like by pressing a fork gently over the chocolate surface and then lift slightly.
• Oh dear, I have managed to made this really easy to make cakes into some sophisticated looking recipe but I really wanted to put in more detailed instructions rather than some really succinct ones that will make you wonder here and there.
• Enjoy those little delights and do not go too far away from them allowing the others to make them varnish in seconds. Police them ;-)) if you want any left for you or hide them before even putting any on the table out for serve ;-)) that’s what I would do if I was you.

Notes

Eggs - please make sure they are at room temperature so take them out of the fridge (if that’s where you store them) a few hours in advance.

Sugar - use what you have but I always recommend any sugar that has not been refined.

Flour - always use spelt nowadays but plain white, wholemeal or a mix of them will do as great.

Filling -the jelly bit - I love making my own but you could use ready made fruit jelly which you may have to dissolve in hot water and then set as usual.

Chocolate topping - the darker the chocolate, the better - but hey that is my opinion because I love dark and my husband is the witness and can testify here.

• if you want to have some fun, add 1 tbsp of chia or poppy seeds to the chocolate;
• it gives it a lovely texture - I have made those few times like this and we loved them;

Jelly - grease slightly the silicone tray holes before pouring in the jelly for setting - it helps when taking out. They almost pop out themselves.