Jaffa Cake Cupcakes; fluffy orange-scented cake oozing with tangy orange filling, swirled with rich chocolate icing and topped with a cheeky Jaffa Cake.
Sometimes there’s nothing better than a chocolate biscuit.
Unless of course, someone turned that biscuit into something six times as large and topped it with chocolate icing.
Oh yes, my brand new Jaffa Cake Cupcakes blow the regular old biscuit (or is it a cake??) out of the water. Fluffy orange-scented sponge cake oozing with tangy orange filling, swirled with rich chocolate icing and topped with a cheeky Jaffa Cake. Perfect.
I decided to make these after my mum asked me to make some cakes for her workmate who is leaving next week. Her workmate really loves chocolate and bananas too, but as I looked sadly upon the dull underripe bananas in my fruit bowl this morning, I knew I had to get creative and find another way to jazz up plain old chocolate cupcakes. Inspiration struck me in the form of a chocolate-topped, orange jelly-filled treat and after whipping these up, I started to wonder why I’d never made Jaffa Cake cupcakes before!
The chocolate buttercream icing that tops these cupcakes is really special. I mix a combination of melted dark and milk chocolate and mix it into the already chocolatey whipped buttercream icing, the finished product is sweet, fluffy perfection with just the right balance of rich chocolate and sugary sweetness. It’s super easy to make and the end result is tempting enough to make you want to lick the bowl clean!
Almost as good as the icing on these Cadbury Cupcakes…
First of all, preheat your oven and line a 12-hole or two 6-hole muffin tins with some paper cases.
Weigh your flour, butter, sugar, eggs and the orange zest/extract into a large bowl all at once and beat well until fully combined and smooth.
Spoon the mixture evenly into your cupcake cases (do you like the snazzy orange ones I found?) and pop the cupcakes into the oven to bake until golden and springy to touch.
Once baked, cool the cakes in their tins for 5-10 minutes before removing them and allowing to cool completely on wire racks.
While your cakes cool, you can whip up your icing! This recipe makes a lot of chocolate icing so you should have plenty leftover to use for another cake, to top pancakes or waffles, or simply to gorge on if your day hasn’t been great so far…
Once the cakes have cooled, it’s time to fill them!
Use a knife to cut a little circle out from the centre of the cakes, leaving a big enough hollow to fill with a little of your marmalade.
Once you’ve cut out the hollows, fill each hole with a spoonful of marmalade and pop the piece of sponge you cut out back into its little hole. If it doesn’t fit well, just remove a little bit of the sponge and use it as a kind of lid instead.
Now for the icing. Melt both kinds of chocolate either in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water on the hob. Once melted, leave to cool slightly while you prepare the rest of the icing.
Place your butter and sift half your icing sugar into a large bowl and beat well until incorporated.
Add in the remaining sugar, the cocoa powder and a small splash of milk (if necessary to loosen) and beat well again until incorporated.
If using, add your orange zest/extract and then your cooled melted chocolate into the bowl of icing and beat vigorously until the mixture has become paler in colour and is light and fluffy. If you are using a food mixer, simply put it on its highest setting with the beater attachment and leave it to whip up for a few minutes. If you’re making the icing by hand, just beat the living crap out of it until your arm gets sore and it looks a little fluffier!
Time to decorate the cakes! Either spoon your icing into a piping bag and pipe a big swirl of the chocolate buttercream onto your cakes, or just use a knife to spread icing generously onto each one.
Top the cakes with the Jaffa Cakes (cut regular ones in half if using), sit back and admire your scrummy chocolate-orangey creation that beats a boring old biscuit/cake/whatever it is any day!
Just kidding, stop staring and have a bite!
Scroll down to find the full recipe to make these Jaffa Cake Cupcakes.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed!
Jaffa Cake Cupcakes
Jaffa Cake Cupcakes; fluffy orange-scented cake oozing with tangy orange filling, swirled with rich chocolate icing and topped with a cheeky Jaffa Cake.
Notes
BE A MAVERICK: why not add a shot of espresso to the chocolate icing for an extra flavour kick?
These Jaffa Cake Cupcakes will keep well in an airtight container or under a covered cake stand for up to 3 days.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 200g (1 ½ cups) self-raising flour
- 200g (13 tbsp) butter/margarine
- 180g (scant 1 cup) caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- Zest of half an orange or 1 tsp orange extract (just enough to give it a subtle flavour)
For the filling and buttercream:
- 1 jar of orange marmalade (obviously you won’t need the whole jar, just use as much as you need!)
- 250g (16 ½ tbsp) softened unsalted butter
- 450g (2 ⅓ cups) icing sugar
- 30g (2 tbsp) cocoa powder
- 100g (3 oz) dark chocolate
- 100g (3 oz) milk chocolate
- Zest of half an orange or 1 tsp orange extract (optional)
- 6 regular or 12 mini Jaffa Cakes to decorate
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
- Preheat your oven – 180 C / 160 C / 350 F / gas mark 4 – and line a 12-hole or two 6-hole muffin tins with some paper cases.
- Weigh your flour, butter, sugar, eggs and the orange zest/extract into a large bowl all at once and beat well until fully combined and smooth.
- Spoon the mixture evenly into your cupcake cases and pop the cupcakes into the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden and springy to touch.
- Cool the cakes in their tins for 5-10 minutes before removing them and allowing to cool completely on wire racks.
For the filling and icing:
- Use a knife to cut a little circle out from the centre of the cakes, leaving a big enough hollow to fill with a little of your marmalade.
- Fill each hole with a spoonful of marmalade and pop the piece of sponge you cut out back into its little hole. If it doesn’t fit well, just remove a little bit of the sponge and use it as a kind of lid instead.
- Now for the icing. Melt both kinds of chocolate either in the microwave or in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water on the hob. Once melted, leave to cool slightly while you prepare the rest of the icing.
- Place your butter and sift half your icing sugar into a large bowl and beat well until incorporated.
- Add in the remaining sugar, the cocoa powder and a small splash of milk (if necessary to loosen) and beat well again until incorporated.
- If using, add your orange zest/extract and then your cooled melted chocolate into the bowl of icing and beat vigorously until the mixture has become paler in colour and is light and fluffy. If you are using a food mixer, simply put it on its highest setting with the beater attachment and leave it to whip up for a few minutes. If you’re making the icing by hand, just beat it until it looks a little fluffier!
- Time to decorate the cakes, either spoon your icing into a piping bag and pipe a big swirl of the chocolate buttercream onto your cakes, or just use a knife to spread icing generously onto each one.
- Top the cakes with the Jaffa Cakes (cut regular ones in half if using)
- Enjoy!
