Recipe: chocolate, orange & almond cake

Tender almond and orange zest sponge soaked with an orange syrup, orange jelly made with freshly squeezed orange juice, and a rich dark chocolate & honey butter ganache. A nostalgic taste for me since a packet of mini Jaffa Cakes were so often my play piece at school.

A cake that requires many oranges–5 to be exact–used in the form of zest, peel and juice. Zest: inside the sponge; peel: used to intensity the orange flavour in the orange jelly; juice: used in the orange syrup and the jelly. It is a fairly easy cake to make, with few additional steps that make it incredibly delicious. The only slightly more involved element is the jelly, solely down to the use of gelatine. Gelatine used to intimidate me due to my fear that for whatever reason, despite following instruction, it wouldn’t work. I did have gelatine fail on me once, and I believe it was down to not using cold enough water for it to bloom, but honestly, it is a very easy ingredient to use, and if you are also fearful of it, then let this recipe be your practise and your way to overcome it!

This recipe can be made in one day, but is best made over two days because I like to give the jelly an overnight stay in the fridge to ensure it is fully. Also, making it over two days breaks up the process a bit. If you don’t have 2x 20cm springform pans, I recommend baking the sponge first, washing the tin and then using it as a form for the jelly.