CREAMY CAKE WITH JAFFA CAKES AND LADY FINGERS

My mother and I made this cake somewhere around the New Year's day. The cake is light, creamy, juicy and not very expensive. Jaffa cakes give a wonderful extra flavor, I love to put them in desserts and cakes as jaffa cakes can freely substitute 1 biscuit layer in any cake as shown in this recipe.

The preparation is not very complicated because in principle we make 1 cream filling which is then divided into 3 parts. About the cream filling: we use instant vanilla flavored puddings. Depending on where you live, puddings vary from country to country. Basically what you need is to prepare a vanilla custard, it doesn't necessarily have to be a pudding filling. You can prepare vanilla custard according this recipe. Let's check the ingredients list and step by step preparation:

Biscuit ingredients and preparation:

Biscuit

• 4 eggs
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon cocoa
• 1/2 packet of baking powder (1 teaspoon)

Beat eggs and sugar with a mixer. Add oil and mix. Add sifted flour, cocoa and baking powder slowly and mix with a wooden spoon or a spatula. Bake at 180 C (350 F) degrees in a non stick rectangular tray 25 by 35 cm or 20 by 30 cm for about 15 minutes. Check with a toothpick if biscuit is ready.

Cream filling ingredients and preparation:

• 750 ml of milk
• 2 sachets of instant vanilla puddings (80 grams or 2.8 oz)
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 150 g sugar (5.3 oz)

Put about 500 ml of milk to boil. In the rest of the cold milk dissolve the vanilla puddings, flour and sugar and add this to the boiling milk. Stir constantly until it thickens. Be careful not to burn the cream. Use a good pot. Cover with stretch foil and leave to cool completely.

• 250 g (8.8 oz) margarine or butter

Beat the margarine or butter with a mixer, then, add to the cooled pudding and mix together until filling has an even and creamy structure.

Then divide the cream into 3 parts.

Cream 1: Add 80 g (2.8 oz) of melted chocolate to the first part and mix.

Cream 2: Add 80 g  of crushed biscuits to the second part and mix.

Cream 3: The third part is left as it is.

Other layers

• 300 g jaffa cakes
• 300 g lady fingers biscuits
• 1 cup orange juice to pour over the biscuit and for dipping cakes and biscuits

Stacking the cake

1. Pour orange juice over the biscuit.
2. Put the first cream filling over.
3. Arrange jaffa cakes previously dipped in milk or orange juice with the chocolate part down.
4. Arrange the chocolate filling above the jaffa cakes.
5. Arrange the lady fingers dipped in orange juice or milk on top.
6. Finally add the vanilla filling.
7. Put 2 whipped creams on top or you can put chocolate icing glaze.
8. The cake is left in the fridge for 1 day to set well.

Cheers.