This is the official difference between a cake and a biscuit… after Bake Off’s Paul Hollywood Jaffa Cake tea dunking storm
Last night the Great British Bake Off answered whether the orange flavoured treat was a cake or a biscuit but how do the two differ?
THE Great British Bake Off made a memorable return last night by revealing the difference between a cake and a biscuit is and which category a Jaffa cake fell into.
The 12 amateur bakers were told to make a Jaffa cake - and naturally, the task sparked an online debate about whether the orange flavoured treat was really a cake or if it was a biscuit.
And soon it trending in the UK under the hashtag #jaffagate.
But fortunately for fans of the show, Mary Berry finally revealed the answer to the age old question explaining that Jaffa cakes are definitely cakes - but why?
Reasons why Jaffa Cakes are definitely cakes
- Jaffa cakes follow the same basic ingredients of a cake, including egg, flour, and sugar mixture which was aerated on cooking and was the same as a traditional sponge cake.
- The ingredients mix to make a thin batter rather than the thicker dough expected for a biscuit texture.
- Cakes are expected to be soft and friable while biscuits are supposed to be crispy and able to be snapped.
- Jaffa cakes have the same soft texture of sponge cake.
- A Jaffa cake will go hard when it's stale, like a cake, while biscuits go soft
And it's not just Mary Berry who has declared that a Jaffa cake is definitely a cake.
In July, United Biscuits (the company who own McVities) made an appeal which HMRC were forced to make a decision for tax purposes.
But, the HMRC ruled that Jaffa Cakes "had enough characteristics of cakes to be accepted as such", so they were in fact cakes.
The deciding factors of the ruling were that Jaffa cakes have the same texture "as a traditional sponge cake" and that they go hard "like a cake" when they're stale.
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Incredibly, Jaffagate wasn't the only controversy to rock last night's show, the nation was stunned when host Paul dunked a Jaffa cake into his tea.
One person wrote: “If someone dipped a Jaffa cake into tea in my home they’d be immediately asked to leave.”
Another added: “Paul Hollywood dunks his Jaffa Cakes in tea. This is unacceptable. Just dunk a Digestive instead you savage.”
A third agreed and said: “Maybe they dunk jaffa cakes into their tea in the Wirral but not around here mate.”