Pimms cocktail jaffa cakes

Very much an adult jaffa cake, this version of jaffa cakes uses Pimms as the base for the jelly, along with fresh orange juice, a hint of mint, a touch of lemon and just enough sugar to sweeten it without taking away from the flavour of the Pimms and the fruit. A real taste of summer!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Post updated: June 2019 (new photos and tweaks)

Once covered in chocolate (either just the tops or the tops and sides) you can leave to set and eat as they are. However, I like to pop a fresh borage flower onto the chocolate before it has set: after all, it is a great edible flower that goes so well in a glass of Pimms!

Pimms Jaffa cakes

Pimms Jaffa cakes

There are many shapes you can have jaffa cakes: I often have a penchant for square ones for no reason other than I like them like that!

In my jaffa cake recipe post (here), I have given instructions and photographs for the square ones. In this post, however, I have gone for the more traditional round jaffa cakes.

Recipe: home-made Pimms jaffa cakes – makes about 24

Pimms Jaffa cakes

Sponge:

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 50g golden caster sugar
• 50g self-raising flour
• finely grated zest of 1 large orange

Jelly:

• juice of 1 large orange
• juice of 1 large lemon
• 150ml Pimms
• cold water – see stage 1, below
• about a tablespoon of chopped fresh mint leaves
• finely grated zest of 1 orange
• 3 sheets leaf gelatine, soaked in cold water for about 5 minutes and squeezed of excess water
• 4 teaspoons caster sugar

To finish:

• 300g dark chocolate, melted (or use a mixture of milk and dark)*
• borage leaves, optional

*it might seem a lot of chocolate but it makes it much easier to coat the cakes from a plentiful pool of melted chocolate! Pour any remaining chocolate, plus the drips, onto greaseproof to set: break it off in pieces, pop in a clean jar and use in other bakes.

You also need two 12-hole shallow mince pie/muffin tins, well greased.

Make the jelly

(1) Measure the total amount of the orange juice, lemon juice and Pimms, and add enough cold water to come to 250ml in total. Heat about half of this liquid with the mint leaves and the orange zest until it just comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and let the mint and orange zest infuse for about 15 minutes. Strain this liquid back into the pan, discarding the mint leaves and the orange zest. Stir in the gelatine until dissolved and pour this flavoured gelatine mixture into the rest of the liquid.

(2) Pour this into the tin that has been lined with clingfilm. Leave to set in the fridge for a few hours to give a firm set jelly.

Pimms Jaffa cakes: the Pimms jelly

Make the sponge

(3) Preheat the oven to 160C (fan). Whisk the eggs, sugar and orange zest together in a large bowl until pale and thick – the mixture should very slowly drop off the whisk when ready and a trail should be visible for a few moments when the whisk is lifed out of the mixture. Gently fold in the flour.

whisked until thick – the mixture very slowly drops off the whisk

(4) Spoon about half a tablespoon of the mixture into each hole in the tins and bake for 8 minutes. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes in the tin before carefully removing and leaving to cool fully on a wire rack. If you want 12 larger/deeper jaffa cakes, use a tablespoon of mixture per hole.

Pimms Jaffa cakes: baked sponges

Assemble

(5) Invert the jelly onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the greaseproof. Cut out circles of jelly a little smaller than the sponges and place one piece of jelly on each sponge.

(6) Taking one of the jelly-topped cakes at a time, spoon over the cooled (but still runny) chocolate, either going for full top and side coverage or just the top. The easiest (and cleanest!) way is to place a cake on a fork, hover the fork and cake over the bowl of chocolate and generously spoon over the chocolate, letting the excess chocolate drip back into the chocolate.

(7) Place onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and place a fresh borage leaf, if using, on top of each. Leave to set at room temperature.

Pimms Jaffa cakes

Author: Philip

Finalist on Britain’s Best Home Cook (BBC Television 2018). Published recipe writer with a love of growing fruit & veg, cooking, teaching and eating good food. View all posts by Philip