Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age. —Anais Nin
Yesterday was St. Valentine’s Day. Traditionally, I’ve always believed this holiday was rather commercial. I don’t want my affection determined by the flower, candy, greeting card, jewelry and restaurant industries attempting to make money. Since the appearance of COVID-19, my attitude has changed slightly. I think it’s important we don’t take any single day for granted. Each and every day is an opportunity for me to show the British Hubby just how much I love and appreciate him. This includes St. Valentine’s Day.
Growing up, I remember making valentine cards with the items you could find around the house. Dry noodles, sparkles, glue, construction paper and a few markers were my favorite supplies. A few decades later, I’m still using supplies around the house to celebrate with the British Hubby. We watched it continue to snow as we viewed the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre while we worked on our version of a Valentines day Jaffa Cake.
Is a Jaffa Cake a cake or a biscuit? If you’re British, you probably have a pretty firm answer one way or the other. We call it a cake even though our version has a brownie base. Our version has more chocolate than the traditional sponge base. We started with a Keto and Co. brownie mix with the addition of some oil of orange. You could use any keto brownie recipe as your base. The British Hubby was channeling his zen brownie making skills with a ripple effect in the brownie mixture. This made me chuckle since the ripples are undetectable in the finished product once baked.
Once the brownie was completely cooled, we added a layer of sugar free marmalade to create that jelly layer traditional Jaffa cakes are famous for. Then we let it chill overnight in the fridge. This could be done all in the same day provided you make the brownie early enough to cool completely. We were okay with this being a two day process.
The last step was to create a chocolate coating. We used keto chocolate chips, but you could also start with a really good bar of baking chocolate. We had seven ounces of chocolate and 1/4 cup of heavy cream. The version we consulted online used 1/2 cup heavy cream, but suggested using less liquid for a thicker result. This step is really about personal preference and the result you’re trying to achieve. The British Hubby thought the chocolate layer was a little too thick. Next time, we’re going to half the quantity.
The chocolate ganache has a lovely shine to it that would impress even the toughest British Bake-Off judge. That dulls once you store it in the fridge. However, the look does not impact the taste. Holy cow, my taste buds did a back flip biting into our Jaffa Cake creation. It is so decedent it’s hard to believe this is keto friendly. Naturally, you have to keep your portion size small, but it’s so satisficing a small portion is enough. My afternoon teas have just gone up a notch! Next time, we’re going to try raspberry jam.
SkeinHerder’s Song: Today I’ve mostly been listening to it rain sort of wishing it was still falling as snow. Keep warm to all of you still below freezing. Here’s a short video of it snowing on Saturday.
Gracie is always the most cautious kitty when it comes to snow. It may not look like water, but she knows it is.
May this week bring you joy and happiness. Sending you smiles and kitty snuggles.
WIP 