Jaffa Cake is a popular type of cake, sold under a number of different brands, the market leader being McVitie's (United Biscuits).

McVitie's produce Jaffa Cakes in 2 different sizes (regular and mini) and in a number of different packaging formats (box, tube, pod and flow wrap).

Jaffa Cakes are circular, approximately 1½" (38 mm) in diameter, and ¼" (7 mm) in height. They comprise three layers:

• A hard sponge base.
• A layer of orange jelly of narrower diameter than the base.
• A layer of chocolate covering the jelly and the margin of the sponge.

The variety with chocolate covering both sides is harder to find.

The cake takes its name from Jaffa oranges.

There are several spin-off products which use the McVitie's Jaffa Cake brand:

• Jaffa Cakebars - a rectangular bar composed of two layers of softer sponge, with orange jelly between, and surrounded by chocolate.
• Jaffa Corners, a variant of the Mŭller Corner yogurt brand.
• Jaffa Mini Roll, a swiss roll comprised of the same ingredients as the Jaffa Cakebars.
• Jaffa Cake Muffins, a muffin with orange jelly in the middle and chocolate on top.

In the marketing of McVitie's Jaffa Cakes, the orange jelly is referred to as "the Smashing Orangey Bit". All the packaging uses a distinctive orange font on a blue background. For a couple of years, until late 2004, the words "Jaffa Cakes" were replaced on the box with slogans humourously designed to look as if the owner was trying to protect their cakes e.g. "They're all gone".

The position of Jaffa Cakes as a VAT free product was once challenged in court. McVitie's defended the classification of Jaffa Cakes as a cake and not a biscuit by producing a giant jaffa cake; showing that their jaffa cakes were simply mini cakes. Secondly they argued that cakes go hard when stale, whereas biscuits go soft. If you've ever left a packet of jaffa cakes open for long enough, you'll know that they go hard, thus proving that they're cakes.

External links

• Offical Website
• Jaffa Cake fansite
• Annanova.com - David Beckham's face appears on a Jaffa Cake