I have no idea what inspired me to try this recipe, other
than the cute little popcorn boxes I bought from TK Maxx a while back. I didn’t
want to chuck in plain old popping corn, so wondered how I could pimp it up. I
also was having a much on Jaffa Cakes at the time, so thought why not try and
combine the two?
Jaffa Cakes are that perennial British favourite biscuit –
or is it a cake? It’s an old question, probably dating back many a year, but
the taxmen got their knickers into a fankle over it due to variances in VAT
between cakes and biscuits. Apparently they decided it was a cake. But I will
always think of it as a biccy. I used to be a member of the McVities Jaffa Cake
Club back in the day ( I was a large child) but all I can really remember about
that was getting some free stickers and an enamel badge, (which I just found in
my old badge collection!).
For those not familiar with them, the Jaffa Cake combines sponge cake on the base (always
slightly stale tasting), ‘a smashing orangey bit’ in the middle (trademark) and
a topping of dark chocolate. Mix this with popcorn and it would be a delicious
little snack I thought…
Yield: I generous serving
Ingredients:
1 sachet of sugar-free orange jelly
1 tablespoon of marmalade
6 store bought – vanilla mini muffins
100 grams plain chocolate chips
50 grams popcorn kernels, popped
Method:
Begin by making your ‘smashing orangey bit’. Make your
orange jelly as directed on the pack, but use a quarter less water. The
instructions on my pack said to make up to a pint, I did mine to three quarters
of a pint. Stir in the tablespoon of marmalade until it melts in the hot water
and set aside to let the jelly set. You won’t need all the jelly, but the
remainders you could always snack on.
Take the vanilla muffins and chop these into half-inch cubes
also. Leave them on the cutting board whilst the jelly sets, so they go a
little bit hard – just like the sponge cake bottom. I could have gone to the
bother of making muffins, but for this recipe, store bought was fine.
Pop your corn if you haven’t done so already. I use a
popcorn maker, as this involves no fat and is a wee bit healthier. Leave this to
cool slightly.
After the jelly is set, scoop a few spoonfuls of the jelly
onto a chopping board and cut with a knife into little half-inch chunks. It
should be pretty firm from adding less water, but still jelly like.
Combine the sponge cubes, jelly cubes and popcorn in a large
bowl giving it a good stir. Next melt the chocolate chips, either in a bowl
over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave.
Give this a good stir and
then drizzle over the popcorn. Mix this through thoroughly. Now you can eat
this with the chocolate slightly molten, so you get nice and messy, or you
could wait a while until the chocolate sets – up to you. Don’t let it set in
the fridge however as this will make the popcorn stale up.
So there you have Jaffa Cake Popcorn Clusters – they do
taste very Jaffa Cakey-ish what with all the elements of the cake, the
marmalade in the jelly really does add another element to the orange. Enjoy…!
These look awesome! Well to be honest they look like a little chocolatey Bowser coming out of a popcorn box (which is the real reason I clicked on this link, to tell you!). They sound awesome too - I have all the ingredients on hand so I'm going to make them for my family tomorrow for our renewed 'Come Dine with Me' family cooking competition. I'm cooking first and I think the kids (big and little!) will love these! Just need to make some paper popcorn boxes... :)
ReplyDeleteHehe, they didn't photograph well, but at least it got your attention! I hope they turn out well for you :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a monster movie of a snack.
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit of a monstrosity - but tasted luverly ;)
Delete