The BEST of the Cake and Biscuit World Combined! (Mc Vities Jaffa Cakes)

Member Name: Rose Pink

Product:	Mc Vities Jaffa Cakes
Date:	11/12/07 (234 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious, brand has prestige, form of political protest

Disadvantages: Better from other brands

Introduction

I am a huge fan of chocolate, jelly, cake and biscuits and to find all elements combined in a little cushion of gorgeousness is pure genius. Although the idea of a mini-cake supporting a layer of jelly enclosed in chocolate sounds quite frankly bizarre the result is spectacular and is definitely one of my favourite foods.

A Brief History of the Jaffa Cake

I promise that I'm not just giving you a history lecture for the sake of it and contextualising the Jaffa cake in the political world has made it much more enjoyable to eat. There has been much debate over whether the Jaffa cake is in fact a cake or a biscuit. Although the spongy layer is characteristically cake-esque the Jaffas re the size of biscuits and are packaged, marketed and positioned in stores as such. Now VAT is charged on luxury goods in the UK. Both cakes and biscuits have escaped this sad fate yet chocolate covered biscuits have fallen fury to the taxman's wrath and are charged 17.5% VAT. Now nobody likes taxes and least of all the people at McVitiess. However they have been delightfully sneaky by classing Jaffa Cakes as cakes, and so avoiding being taxed (mwah ha ha). By 1991 Her Majesty's Customs and Excise caught-on to McVities ploy and challenged the cake claim in court. I am glad to say that McVities won its case, through fairly ludicrous means. The evidence they provided was an upscale sized Jaffa Cake which fitted all cake criteria and the exhibition of stale Jaffa cakes (a criteria for cake is it goes stale). HM Customs and Excise was left looking, and I am sure feeling, exceedingly foolish. Now it may all seem a bit trivial but trust me the knowledge that buying Jaffa cakes is restricting the tax the government is leaching from you is highly therapeutic. It also allows the purchasing of Jaffa cakes to become morally justifiable, even to those who are dieting because it falls outside of the category of 'pigging out' and instead into a form of political protest. (For all those wishing to further investigate the status of the Jaffa as cake or biscuit please refer to the article 'Are Jaffa Cakes really biscuits?' published in the Journal of Unlikely Science (Volume 1, issue 7, 2005).[6] Here scientific analysis of various features (size, shape, filling etc.) were used to determine confectionary status and determined that the Jaffa Cake should be regarded as a biscuit, or 'pseudobiscuit'.

Physical Description

A McVities Jaffa Cake is a circular shape with a diameter of 54mm and a depth of 7mm. The treat is comprised of layers and really is a miniature layered dessert, like trifle but better. Breaking a Jaffa cake in half reveals the cross sectional area and this is highly useful for in-depth analysis. The foundation of the snack is the sponge base which is beige in colour with the outside being a darker hue than the inner. On top of this is a layer of jelly, slightly smaller than the base which gives the circular protrudance from the drop of the cake. The jelly is orange flavoured and this is reflected through the orange (shocking) colour of the jelly. The entire top of the sponge is coated in plain chocolate, which beautifully contrasts the orange colour of the jelly. The appearance f the Jaffa cake is quirky but overall a fun design. The layer system also provides fun when eating by providing the Jaffa cake challenge (see below).

Aroma of the Jaffa Cake

The Jaffa cake has a lovely smell of chocolate orange, but highly different from the likes of Terry's Chocolate Orange which is highly synthetic. The scent is highly distinctive and quite unlike any other biscuit. The Jaffa Cake first presents this bitter citrusy orange smell from the jelly which is then laced with the more subtle scent of the chocolate. Unfortunately the sponge layer plays no significant part in the scent of the Jaffa cake and remains perfunctory to structure and visual experience as opposed to scent. I feel that this is a slight loss of the part of the Jaffa Cake as the equilibrium of the three comprising parts is lost. Overall, because the smell is highly pleasant, we shall not peanilise the Jaffa Cake too heavily.

Taste of the Jaffa Cake

On the first bite of the Jaffa cake the first taste buds to be hit are the bitter and sour sensors. This may seem surprising considering the sensors are located near the back of the tongue yet the immediate kick this gives you is dramatic and pleasurable, so we shall attribute it to genius on the part of Jaffa cake inventors. The sweet sensors at the front of the tongue are then indulged by the sweetness of the chocolate, before the slight bitterness of the cocoa comes into play (remember this is dark chocolate which is of more complex flavour than milk). This influx of sweetness from the chocolate and the base neutralises the tang of the orange leaving a heavenly mouthful of deliciousness, until the next bite.

Eating Techniques

I have descried the flavour of Jaffa cakes above in relation to a full and direct mouthful being taken. However if the Jaffa Cake Challenge is take the experience is rather different. The Jaffa Cake Challenge is a game of skill with the aim of eating a Jaffa cake in such a way that they layer of orange jelly is left till last, unscathed. There are many different methods of performing this, however I have honed down my technique to the following process:
1) Bite away the sponge layer around the bases of the orange jelly. Fairly large bites can be taken but guard against mishaps; to fail at such an early stage is humiliating.
2) Carefully use incisors to flake off the top layer of chocolate covering the orange and any sponge still covering the base.
The result is a small circle of jelly.
The Jaffa Cake Challenge can be played alone but I find that a competitive edge is highly satisfying. In such competitions each competitor tries to be the first the skin the Jaffa cake and yield the best result (marks are deducted for a damaged jelly layer.)
Please be warned hat this game is HIGHLY addictive. Many on trying this way for the first time have never reverted to their old ways. It should also be considered that they complex interlinking of flavours is restricted this way and the orange layer of jelly tastes inferior alone.

Value for Money

McVities Jaffa Cakes are fairly expensive as a biscuit (or cake). In Sainsbury's they sell for ... Personally I recommend Tesco Value Jaffa Cakes, which are much cheaper and in my opinion have a nicer flavour. However even if you are on the tightest budget avoid Sainsbury's Own Jaffa Cakes, I mean I appreciate that they need to prove their cake status but these are consistently stale and rather repulsive. However there are problems with Tesco Value in that if you enjoy eating your Jaffa Cakes straight from the box people might be exposed to the packaging. For the liberal and non-superficial people out there this is fine, for the rest of us this is a social faux pas. In which case investing in a single box of McVitiess and then inserting the Tesco Value Jaffas (still in their plastic wrapping for hygiene purposes) creates the perfect customised Jaffa cake collection.

Health Implications

McVitiess' Jaffa Cakes are relatively healthy as far as cakes/biscuits go.
Jaffa Cake, McVities
Calories in 100g of Jaffa cakes:
Calories 384.0kcal
Carbohydrate 73.3g
Protein 4.4g
Fat 8.1g
Fibre 1.3g
Alcohol 0.0g
Calories in a Jaffa cake (12g): 46kcal
Fairly low cal and low fat they do however pack a lot of sugar. Now I know I have been full of praise of Jaffa cakes but please enjoy them responsibly. An excess of any substance is always unhealthy.
Ingredients
Glucose-fructose Syrup, Plain Chocolate (20%)(Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Vegetable Fat, Butter Oil, Emulsifiers(Soya Lecithin, E476), Cocoa Butter, Dried Skimmed Milk, Natural Vanilla Flavouring),Sugar, Wheat flour, Whole Egg, Water, Dextrose Monohydrate, Glucose Syrup, Concentrated Blackcurrant Juice (6% Blackcurrant Juice Equivalent), Citric Acid, Humecant (Glycerine), Vegetable Oil, Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrate), Gelling Agent (Pectin), Raising Agents (Ammonium Bicarbonate, Disodium Dishosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate) Dried Whole Egg, Natural Colours (Anthocyanin, Curcumin), Natural Flavourings.
Sum-Up
Although often criticised for their lack of crunch the Jaffa Cake has received a reputation as a bit of a pansy. However I think the evidence given above shows it is actually a strong contender for confectionary product of the year. A fantastic taste, appearance and aroma, a history steeped in scandal and victory and its political implications means that the Jaffa Cake is the way forward.
P.S. Avoid the blackcurrant flavour. They are disgusting and morally wrong.

Summary: The most satisfying snack ever!