These easy homemade vegan Jaffa Cakes use ready-made jelly pots for a classic British teatime treat. A mix of vegan dark and white chocolate recreates the familiar ‘milk’ chocolate topping.
If you haven’t tried a Jaffa Cake before, they’re a much-loved British teatime favourite: a light sponge base topped with citrus orange jelly and finished with a chocolate coating. Traditional shop-bought versions often contain dairy, so this recipe offers a simple vegan homemade alternative that keeps the flavours and texture you’d expect.
This version uses a couple of clever shortcuts to save time: ready-made vegan orange jelly pots for the jelly layer, and a small blend of vegan dark and white chocolate to mimic classic milk chocolate for the topping. The result is a bright, zesty centre on a soft sponge, covered in glossy chocolate — perfect with tea.
Whether you’re baking for a vegan household or just curious to try a different teatime treat, these Jaffa Cakes are straightforward to make and very satisfying. Follow the recipe below for an easy step-by-step method.
📝 What you need
Ingredients
- Dairy-free block margarine (e.g. plant butter)
- Unsweetened dairy-free yoghurt (soya works well)
- Unsweetened plant milk (soya, oat, almond, etc.)
- Caster sugar
- Self-raising flour
- Baking powder
- Ready-made orange jelly pots (check vegan labeling)
- Vegan dark chocolate
- Vegan white chocolate (optional — for a lighter ‘milk’ chocolate blend)
Equipment
A 12-hole muffin tin is ideal. A loose-based mini sandwich tin makes removing the sponge bases easier if you have one. A piping bag or a squeeze bottle helps when coating the cakes in chocolate, but two teaspoons will also do the job.
👩🏽🍳 Variations
This recipe is easy to adapt. Ideas to try:
- Swap the orange jelly for other fruity flavours like raspberry, strawberry or blackcurrant for a different taste.
- Use a teaspoon of marmalade instead of jelly for a quick, zesty alternative — try different marmalade varieties such as pink grapefruit or tangerine.
- For a more intense chocolate taste, skip the white chocolate and use a very dark vegan chocolate to contrast the sweet jelly.
❄️ Storing and making ahead
These Jaffa Cakes are best on the day they are made because the jelly is soft, but you can store them in an airtight container for a day or two. If you want to prepare in advance:
- Bake the cake bases ahead and freeze them in an airtight container. Defrost before assembling.
- Cut the jelly circles a day ahead and keep them covered in the fridge on a plate.
- Add the chocolate topping on the day you plan to serve. Allow 2–3 hours for the chocolate to set at room temperature; refrigerate briefly only if required in hot weather.
🍽 If you liked that…
If you enjoy baking vegan treats, you might also like recipes for vegan rocky road, vanilla cupcakes, flapjacks with chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, or lemon drizzle cupcakes. Try exploring other simple vegan bakes for teatime.
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Jaffa Cakes
These easy homemade vegan Jaffa Cakes use ready-made jelly pots and a simple chocolate blend to recreate the classic combination of sponge, citrus jelly and chocolate.
Author: Kate Ford | The Veg Space
Prep time: 30 mins • Cook time: 14 mins • Total time: 44 mins
Serves: 12 jaffa cakes • Calories: 174 kcal per cake (approx.)
Ingredients
For the cake layer
- 50 g dairy-free block margarine
- 75 g caster sugar
- 50 g unsweetened dairy-free yoghurt (soya recommended)
- 50 ml unsweetened plant milk
- 75 g self-raising flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
For the jelly layer
- 2 pots ready-made orange jelly (2 x 125 g pots), check vegan labeling
For the chocolate layer
- 150 g vegan dark chocolate
- 40 g vegan white chocolate (optional — to lighten the dark chocolate into a ‘milk’ style)
Instructions
To make the cake layer
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (fan) / 325°F / gas mark 3. Grease a 12-hole muffin tin.
- In a large bowl, beat the margarine and caster sugar together until light and fluffy. An electric mixer speeds this up.
- Mix in the dairy-free yoghurt and plant milk, then fold in the self-raising flour and baking powder until smooth.
- Divide the batter between the 12 holes. Tap the tin on the work surface to level and bake for 12–14 minutes, until the cakes spring back when touched. Remove and leave to cool completely.
To add the jelly layer
- Once the sponge bases are completely cool, tip the jelly from the pots onto a chopping board and slice into rounds.
- Use a round cutter slightly smaller than the sponge to cut circles from the jelly slices.
- Carefully place a jelly circle on top of each cake base.
To make the chocolate layer
- Break the dark chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl and the white chocolate into a separate bowl.
- Gently melt the dark chocolate in short bursts (e.g. 30 seconds, then 10-second bursts), stirring between heats. Melt the white chocolate in very short bursts as it requires less time.
- Pour the melted white chocolate into the dark chocolate and stir to combine, creating a lighter, ‘milk’ vegan chocolate if you are using both.
- Using a piping bag, squeeze bottle or two spoons, cover each Jaffa Cake with the melted chocolate, spreading it to the edges.
- After a few minutes, when the chocolate starts to set, gently press a fork into the top of each cake to create small indentations and texture.
- Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature (or chill briefly only if necessary).
Nutrition (per cake, approximate)
- Calories: 174 kcal
- Carbohydrates: 19 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Fat: 10 g
- Sugar: 12 g
Free 4-Week Vegan Meal Plan
If you’d like more ideas, a four-week vegan meal plan and shopping list can be a useful way to plan varied, balanced meals — search for a vegan meal plan to find downloadable resources and inspiration.
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