Who doesn’t love Jafa Cakes? That dark blue box brought so much joy when we were young and now I sometimes see them sold by the foot in my European supermarket! You know I just have to get myself one, and because they are often sold during the holidays, we usually end up with 2 under our tree. What’s better than Jafa itself? Jafa Kocke of course, a whole dessert dedicated to this deliciously sweet snack.
This is a very old recipe; I’ve eaten these as long as I can remember. Sometimes they’re sliced into bite-size pieces to be enjoyed as sitni kolači, and sometimes they’re served as a generous dessert, much like my Rafaello Kocke. This time, I decided to serve them as generously-sized squares.
Jafa cakes, if you’re not familiar, are a snack cake with a cake bottom topped with an orange jelly disk, and covered in chocolate. In order to recreate the taste of Jafa in a dessert, a lot of the same ingredients are used. In addition, the sponge cake, filling, and chocolate are also layered in the same order, truly resembling a jafa cake when viewed from the side. And who can forget the delicious chocolate top?
When reading the recipe, you may find it odd that whole, frozen oranges are used, skin and all. This is the hallmark ingredient of this dessert and cannot be substituted. It is not bitter at all, and in fact, releases a wonderful orange fragrance that will make your kitchen and home smell divine.
These are amazing to bring to a party or to serve in bite-sized pieces on a dessert display. They are moist, delicious, and fragrant. These also make the perfect holiday dessert, when oranges are plentiful during the Christmas season!
Looking for other dessert ideas? Check out the desserts section!
Jafa Kocke / Jaffa Cake Squares
Course: DessertCuisine: Balkan, Serbian12
servings30
minutes40
minutesA recreation of the Jafa Cake snack cake – but in dessert form!
Ingredients
- Cake Layer x2
3 large eggs (6 total)
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar (1 cup/200 g total)
1/3 cup (100 ml) milk (2/3 cup/200 ml total)
1/4 cup (60 ml) oil (1/2 cup/120 ml total)
1/4 teaspoon (2.5 ml) vanilla extract (1/2 teaspoon/5 ml total)
1/2 tablespoon (7 g) baking powder (1 tablespoon/14 g total)
1 cup (120 g) flour (2 cups/240 g total)
- Orange Filling
2 medium oranges, frozen solid
2 + 1/3 cups (500 + 80 ml) orange juice
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
5 tablespoons (100 g) orange marmalade
- Chocolate Topping
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (200 g cokolade za kuvanje)
2 teaspoons (10 ml) oil
Directions
- Cake Layers x2
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Line your 9×13 baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. * See note
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar and then add in the remaining ingredients. Whisk well to combine all the ingredients.
- Transfer the batter to your baking pan and bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. This should take about 30-35 minutes.
- Remove cake layer from baking pan and transfer to a cooling rack or flat surface to cool.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 above to make the 2nd layer. Instead of parchment paper, grease your baking pan this time. Do not remove the 2nd layer from the pan when it’s done.
To save time, whisk together your ingredients for the 2nd cake layer while the first one bakes! - Once the 2nd layer comes out of the oven, let it cool for 5 minutes and pour the 1/3 cup of orange all over it, allowing it to soak into the cake layer. Set aside to cool completely.
- Orange Filling
- Once the first cake layer is cooled to the touch, use your fingers to break it up completely into small pieces. Break it up as much as possible using just your hands. Set aside in a large mixing bowl.
- Grate your frozen oranges (both peel and flesh) using a grater. Grate the orange peel using the smaller holes and then the orange itself with the larger holes. Use a kitchen towel so you don’t freeze your hands 🙂
- Transfer the grated oranges to a saucepan and add in the sugar and the 2 cups of orange juice. Bring the mixture to a boil and then continue cooking it stirring constantly for another 3 minutes.
- Remove the orange mixture from the heat and cool for about 5 minutes. It will still be very hot, but you just want it to stop actively cooking.
- After a few minutes, transfer the orange mixture to your bowl of cake layer pieces. Add in the marmalade and then using a spatula mix everything together for a few minutes until the liquid soaks into the cake pieces completely and the mixture becomes one compact filling, kind of resembling wet sand. Taste and add additional marmalade if you’d like it to be sweeter.
- Once your orange filling is completely combined, transfer it to the baking pan with your 2nd cake layer. Spread the filling evenly across the cake layer. Place in the refrigerator while you melt your chocolate.
- Chocolate Layer
- In a saucepan, melt the chocolate and oil together until all the chocolate is melted.
- Remove from heat, stir, and pour over the orange layer. Use a spatula or knife to spread the chocolate evenly across the top.
- Place the assembled dessert back into the refrigerator for at least 4 hours to chill before serving.
Notes
- * Use parchment paper when baking the first layer so it’s easier to remove from the pan. Then the pan is free to be used for the 2nd layer and remaining cake assembly.
- In order to get clean lines and to prevent the chocolate from cracking when it’s cut, run a sharp knife under hot water until the blade becomes hot. Wipe off the water from the blade and then slowly cut out squares of the dessert. After each cut, run the knife under hot water again, repeating the process until you have as many pieces as you need.
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