Anti clockwise from the rectangular one: Marks & Spencer, McVities, Sainsbury’s, Tescos, and my attempt
1. Marks & Spencer
Very zesty rectangular cake with a thick layer of delicious dark chocolate. Proper Marmalade has been spread to the edges & the chocolate is satisfyingly thick and cracked nicely when bitten into. Mmm…
2. McVities
The creators of the Jaffa cake in 1927 and the market leader of this teatime treat. A yellowy soft sponge base with a generous disc of flavorsome orange jelly, topped off with a pleasing layer of chocolate. Apologies for the appearance – I was carrying them box-less in my bag all day so they got a bit squashed.
3. Sainsbury’s
This supermarket version was average, neither good nor bad. The sponge layer was on the dry side and the Jaffa resembled flavorless orange colored jelly. Chocolate was unmemorable.
4. Tesco’s Value
My least favorite of the bunch. This was quite similar to Sainsbury’s apart from the sponge was dryer & thicker and reminded me of trifle sponges. Orange colored jelly with the faintest hint of orange.
Attempt no.2
5. Teafactory’s Jaffa cake (remixed)
After my taste tests I decided to have a go at making this. I failed miserably on my first attempt – my sponge wasn’t spongy at all, and it was difficult to spread chocolate over the marmalade without making a mess. I also made the mistake of burning the chocolate so it went all lumpy…but despite the aesthetic hiccups they tasted fine. My second attempt I decided to make a joconde sponge & mix in home made candied orange peel. I dipped the top of the sponges in melted Lindt chocolate. Although these tasted great and looked the part, they weren’t authentic enough and lacked the certain Jaffa Cake quality. Maybe next time…
My first attempt
It was great fun rating these jaffa cakes. Its a tough job but someones got to do it! I agree that the M&S one is the best of the lot. Your jaffa cakes were delicious and you should definitely try again.
Oooh I love this sort of thing! Typical of M&S to prevail; their food is always delicious, but.. so expensive! You’ve got me thinking about making my own now, though… can’t be so hard!
I have also made the mistake of buying value jaffa cakes that suffer from “dry sponge disease”. I’d always thought I was somehow storing them wrong and it was my fault…