Vegan and Gluten Free Jaffa Cakes

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I had to play around with this vegan & gluten-free Jaffa Cake recipe a few times before I was happy with it. First I couldn’t get the texture of the base right, once I did I then had to figure out the best way to make the orange centre. I also wanted to find alternatives to make them as easy as possible to make!
So I came up with a simple gluten-free, vegan base of gluten-free flour, ground almonds, coconut oil, milk and maple syrup. For the middle layer, I played around with a jelly recipe a couple of times and I’m pleased with the results! I also tried using shop bought marmalade to make the recipe easier with less steps to follow, and that worked also. I think using the orange jelly make these Jaffa Cakes taste more like the original, but the hubby thought using the marmalade tasted better. If you can make both, I would love to know which version you thought worked best!
Now all that’s left to do is for you to rush off and make them! Happy baking

Ingredients
For the base

• 1/2 cup (75g) gluten-free flour
• 1/3 cup (50g) ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 4 tbsp milk of choice

For the orange layer

• 1/2 cup (120ml) orange juice
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp agar agar
• Alternatively you can use homemade or shop bought marmalade instead of making the jelly, although I think the jelly was a lot closer to the real thing.
• For the chocolate topping
• 100g-150g dairy-free dark chocolate, melted and left to cool

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180*C (160*C fan assisted)/ 350*F
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt.
3. Pour in the coconut oil, maple and milk. Mix to combine.
4. Lightly oil a muffin tray and transfer about 1.5-2 tbsp of the batter into each of the muffin tray cups.
5. Bake for 10 minutes. Leave to cool completely.

To make the orange jelly

1. Add all the jelly ingredients into a small saucepan and cook on a medium/high heat mixing continuously until it starts to boil. Take off the heat, pour into a wide bowl and leave to cool. Once the jelly has cooled down, transfer into the fridge to speed up the setting process.
2. To assemble
3. Cut out rings from the jelly, smaller than the width of the base.
4. Top each base with a jelly ring (or a small tsp of marmalade if you don’t want to make the jelly), then drizzle some melted chocolate on top. I find if u leave the chocolate to cool once melted it’s a lot easier to control drizzling the chocolate on top.
5. Transfer to the fridge and leave for about 15 minutes until the chocolate has set
6. Store in an air tight container at room temperature for 3 days.

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