Publised on 31/08/2023. Last Updated on 18/09/2024 by Richard
A giant vegan jaffa cake made with light vanilla sponge, tangy orange jelly and smooth dark chocolate ganache.
Have you been waiting with bated breath for this giant vegan jaffa cake? Are you new here but stoked about the idea of a soft vanilla sponge soaked in orange syrup, topped with a tangy layer of orange jelly and COVERED in glossy vegan ganache? Look, it doesn't matter - this cake is a life changer and your loved ones will thank you until the day you depart.
Some of you may not even know what a vegan jaffa cake is! Let me educate you. Jaffa cakes are tiny cakes around the size of a small cookie, sold in the UK. They're a rather dry vanilla sponge topped with a layer of orange jelly and covered in chocolate. They're not vegan, so I miss them dearly. Thus, I decided to make a MASSIVE version for you to enjoy!
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🧈 Giant Vegan Jaffa Cake Ingredients
Remember, the full recipe for this giant vegan jaffa cake is at the bottom of the page, but let me list the intredients you're gonna need up this end, so you can nip to the shops in your lunch break, before returning to your desk and pretending to work on important things. Clickity clackety clack, don't mind me just writing an essential work email.
Here's everything you'll need:
For the Jelly
- Orange juice
- Zest of half an orange
- Agar agar powder
For the Syrup
- Orange juice
- Granulated sugar (or caster sugar)
- Zest of half an orange
For the Sponge
- Soy milk
- Lemon juice
- Caster sugar (aka superfine sugar)
- Vegetable oil (or sunflower oil)
- Vanilla extract
- Plain white flour (aka all purpose flour)
- Baking powder
- Bicarbonate of soda (aka baking soda)
- Fine sea salt
For the Ganache
- Soy milk
- Coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
- Vegan dark chocolate
📝A Note About Vegan Sponge Cakes
Here are some tips I've picked up over the years when making vegan sponge cakes. You might find them useful!
- Use vegetable oil for a moist sponge. Vegan butter is great, but I find I get a much better textured cake with vegetable oil. Sunflower oil and Canola oil work great too.
- Use an acid ingredient to help the cake rise! Baking soda works in response to acidic ingredients in order to help sponges rise. That's why some cakes call for buttermilk or yoghurt. In this recipe I recommend lemon juice.
- Once baked, allow the cake to cool for 10 mins in the tin, but then remove it. This stops the cake from becoming soggy.
🍊 Making the Orange Jelly Layer
Making vegan jelly for my giant vegan jaffa cake is similar to non-vegan jelly, with a few crucial differences. Here's how.
1. This recipe just uses agar agar, orange juice, zest and water for the jelly layer. Once the orange juice is boiling, whisk the agar agar with some water and add to the pan. You'll then need to transfer it to a plate which is slightly smaller than your cake tin. I like to line mine with cling film to make removal easier, but this is optional. The jelly then needs to set in the fridge for around 30 mins.
2. To get the jelly in exactly the right spot, I like to start by flipping my sponge upside down. This gives you a flatter layer to work with. Next you'll want to remove the jelly from the fridge and flip the entire plate on top of the giant vegan jaffa cake sponge.
3. Carefully peel the cling film from the plate and remove the plate. Use the cling film to help you position the jelly right in the centre of the sponge cake.
4. Finally, remove the cling film completely. The cake and the jelly will now need to be refrigerated so they're nice and cool before the ganache is applied. Speaking of which, here's how to make the vegan ganache!
🍫 Making the Vegan Ganache for the Giant Vegan Jaffa Cake
Here's how to perfect your giant vegan jaffa cake with a gorgeous glossy layer of vegan chocolate ganache!
1. First you'll need to heat up a pan of soy milk with a tablespoon of coconut oil. The coconut oil stops the ganache from cracking once it's set. Once the soy milk mixture is hot (but not boiling) you can add the chocolate, cover with a lid and leave for 5 minutes.
2. Once the five minutes are up, remove the lid and whisk until the ganache is smooth, creamy and glossy! So easy! You can use this recipe in all sorts of other cakes, including my perfect vegan chocolate cake!
3. Place the giant vegan jaffa cake on a cooling rack, positioned over a baking tray (to catch any excess) and pour the ganache over the jelly and cake. Use a spatula to scrape off any excess, so the top layer isn't too thick!
4. Finally, make a cross hatch pattern on the top with a knife or skewer then refrigerate for 20 mins or until the ganache is set! Bingo! The perfect giant vegan jaffa cake!
🤷♀️ Giant Vegan Jaffa Cake FAQs
A: A jaffa cake is a small vanilla sponge topped with orange jelly and covered in chocolate. They are sold like cookies (or biscuits) in the UK, despite being mini cakes!
A: Most sugars in the UK (and many in the US) are vegan. Some, however, are not. When buying sugar, google the brand and product to check their vegan credentials.
A: No, store-bought jaffa cakes are not vegan. However this recipe is a vegan alternative.
And that's it! Who doesn't love a delicious vegan cake!
Next time, why not try my vegan classic glazed donuts? Or perhaps my vegan pound cake? Up for a bit of a special occasion? Give my vegan birthday cake or my vegan carrot cake a go!
Giant Vegan Jaffa Cake
Ingredients
For the Jelly
- 200 ml orange juice
- Zest of half an orange finely grated
- ½ teaspoon agar agar powder
- 2 teaspoon water
For the sponge
- 240 ml soy milk unsweetened and unflavoured, or any other mild flavoured plant milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 150 g caster sugar aka superfine sugar
- 80 ml vegetable oil or sunflower oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 210 g plain white flour aka all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda aka baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
For the syrup
- 75 ml orange juice
- 75 g granulated sugar or caster sugar
- Zest of half an orange finely grated
For the ganache
- 240 ml soy milk unsweetened and unflavoured, or any other mild flavoured plant milk
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable oil
- 340 g vegan dark chocolate finely chopped
Instructions
To Make the Jelly
- Choose a plate with a well around 2-5 cm smaller than your cake tin. Line the plate with cling film, carefully pushing out any air bubbles with your finger tips. Set aside.
- Place half of the orange juice in a small saucepan along with the orange zest. In a small bowl, whisk together the agar agar powder and water until smooth. Place the saucepan over low heat and bring to a low boil.200 ml orange juice, ½ teaspoon agar agar powder, 2 teaspoon water, Zest of half an orange
- Immediately add the agar agar mixture to the saucepan, stirring constantly. Cook for a further 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Working quickly, add the remaining orange juice and mix thoroughly. Hold a fine mesh sieve over the lined plate (to catch the zest) and pour the jelly mixture through.
- Carefully transfer the plate of jelly to the fridge and leave to set.
To Make the Sponge
- Preheat the oven to 175 °C fan. Line a 21cm (8.27 inch) cake tin with baking parchment on the bottom and sides.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy milk, lemon juice, caster sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Set aside.240 ml soy milk, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 150 g caster sugar, 80 ml vegetable oil, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate medium bowl, sieve together the remaining sponge ingredients then whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until combined to a loose batter.210 g plain white flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and place in the preheated oven to bake for 30 minutes. While the cake bakes, make the syrup.
- Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes on a wire cooling rack, before removing from the tin and leaving to cool fully.
To Make the Syrup
- Place the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Once all the sugar is dissolved, allow to simmer for 2 minutes then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.75 ml orange juice, 75 g granulated sugar, Zest of half an orange
- Once both the syrup and the cake are cooled to room temperature, brush the top of the cake with half of the syrup. Carefully flip the cake upside down and brush the underside with the remaining half of the syrup. Leave the cake upside down for the remaining steps.
- Remove the plate of jelly from the fridge and flip upside down onto the cake. Loosen the cling film and remove the plate. Make sure the jelly is in the centre of the cake then carefully remove the cling film. Place the cake in the fridge to chill while you make the ganache.
To Make the Ganache
- Place the soy milk and coconut oil in a medium saucepan and place over low heat. Bring just to the point before boiling (the milk should be steaming but not bubbling) then remove from the heat. Add the chopped chocolate then cover the pan with a lid and leave undisturbed for 5 minutes.
- Remove the lid and whisk the ganache until smooth and glossy.
- Remove the cake from the fridge and place on a wire cooling over a large baking tray or bowl (this is to catch any extra ganache). Pour the ganache over the top of the cake, making sure it covers the sides evenly. Use a spatula to even out the top into a flat layer then use a skewer to make a grid pattern on the top (optional).
- Return the cake to the fridge to set for a further 30 minutes before slicing and serving.240 ml soy milk, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, 340 g vegan dark chocolate
Lucie Kehoe
I have to say that this is a flawless recipe and everything element worked perfectly! Thank you!
Milka Savic
Love it !!!!
I ve used coconut sugar and it was great substitute and made my own chocolate granache and was superb !!!
Leenz
Thank you so much for sharing this. It's one of the yummiest cakes I've ever eaten. This was the first time that I played around with agar agar and your instructions made it super easy and fun! That vanilla sponge is so dreamy and is my go to now - it deserves a medal!
Gina B
Absolutely loved it and so did everyone I shared with! Such an easy recipe and it’s delicious! I’ve never had a Jaffa cake but always heard about it on Great British Bake-off. I now understand the hype! ☺️
Lesley
Delicious!! I was a bit intimidated by all the components of this recipe but they were easy to follow and came out great. I’ll definitely be making it again!
Mateus
I tested it. I loved making this recipe!
On the first try, both the sponge cake and the jelly layer were too thin because I only have a 25cm diameter tray. But on the second time I doubled the batter and the jelly and everything was perfect. So fun to make, so good to eat.
Denise
Made this ons for my mom’s birthday and everyone loved it! Super orange-y! Great recipe 🙂