Jaffa Cake Loaf

Jaffa Cake Loaf

This recipe started out as a clementine cake but after I caught the first smell and taste of this cake I was brought to the distinctive jaffa cake. Whilst there has long been a debate about whether a jaffa cake is a cake or a biscuit (the English tax tribunal ruled that they are indeed a cake), there is no doubt that this is a cake. It has a wonderful citrus aroma which combines well with the dark chocolate coating. It celebrates the wonderful flavour of a clementine. 

Ingredients:

140g unsalted butter/dairy free margarine

200g self-raising gluten free flour

1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

140g soft brown sugar

3 eggs

2 clementines, zest and juice

6 tablespoons rice milk/dairy free milk

40g golden caster sugar

75g dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C and grease a loaf tin. 

Beat the butter/margarine until softened then beat in the sugar. Add the eggs, beating one at a time then mix in the clementine zest flour, bicarbonate of soda and milk. Whenever you are using zest in a mixture, be sure to zest the fruit directly into the mixture in order to catch all of those priceless oils which give so much flavour. 

Pour into the oven and bake for about 50 minutes. 

10 minutes before the end, prepare the clementine syrup by heating the clementine juice together with the sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat. This will take about 5 minutes although be careful not to bring it to the boil too much or else you will evaporate all of the juice and be left with a caramel! The clementine can be a bit tricky to handle when juicing so I had to use a sieve as the clementine broke up in my hands.  

When the sugar has melted take the syrup of the heat and leave to one side. 

When the cake is golden on top and cooked through (knife inserted in the middle comes out clean), turn off the oven and insert the knife a few more times evenly through the top of the loaf. Spoon the syrup evenly over the top of the cake. Leave to cool in the tin. 

Melt the chocolate by popping in a non-metallic bowl and zapping for about 2 minutes in a microwave. Use the melted chocolate to cover the top of the cake.