All Natural Jaffa Cakes

3 October 2016

 

My middle son, Yanni, has a somewhat worrying affliction: he appears to be addicted to Jaffa Cakes. I very rarely buy commercial biscuits but it’s amazing how many empty packs of Jaffa cakes appear dotted around our household, despite my best efforts. So it has been on my mind for quite a while to have a go at coming up with a healthy Jaffa Cake-esque treat. Here it is, and the good news is that it has the “Yanni seal of approval”. Now bearing in mind how keen he is on what I’d class as junk food, that’s no mean feat! I should add, that the base for these cakes was inspired by a trulydelicious  savoury cracker recipe created by Hemsley and Hemsley.

Ingredients

Makes around 20 substantial Jaffa Cakes

For the base…

180g milled flaxseed

200g ground almonds

Zest of 1 orange, unwaxed being preferable

Pulp of a whole orange, pith chopped off

For the soft orangey centre…

Around 250g pitted dates, soaked well ahead of time and then pureed

Orange oil

For the topping…

340g 85% chocolate

Step 1

Whizz up the orange – pith cut off – in a food processor

Step 2

Combine all the base ingredients in a large bowl and mix together until you have a rather solid ball of dough

Step 3

Roll out the flaxseed dough on a layer of non-stick baking parchment to a thickness of between 3 and 5mm. Use a pastry cutter to cut out around 20 or more circles. You will need to keep gathering up the bits and rolling them out again, until all the dough has been used up.

Step 4

Now bake in the oven at around 180°C until golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer to a baking wrack to cook and crisp up.

Step 5

Place the date purée in a bowl and carefully add a few drops of orange oil to taste – check to see how intense you wish the orange flavour to be.

Step 6

Once the flaxseed bases have completely cooked, add a generous teaspoon full of orange-flavoured date purée to the centre of each biscuit.

Step 7

Now for the messy bit! You need to melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted, pick up one jaffa cake at a time, holding it round the edges and generously spooning the melted chocolate over the top, so that the date filling is encased and completely fixed to the flaxseed base.

Step 8

Once you have coated all the jaffa cakes, place them in the fridge to set. They will need to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and should last very well for 1-2 weeks.

I love the combination of the crunchy base, soft centre and the snap of chocolate as you bite into these biscuits. Let me know what you think!

And if you like the idea of chocolate that is actually HEALTHY, then you might well wish to have a copy of my Little Book of Healthy Chocolate Recipes - it's only a fiver with 15% going to charity, Alex's Wish, and I always include a little chocolate treat when I send it out!. 

 

Jo xx

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