Jaffa cakes - wikipedia Jaffa cakes Jaffa Cakes A Jaffa Cake cut in half Alternative names Jaffa Type Cake Place of origin United Kingdom Region or state All Regions Created by McVitie and Price Main ingredients Sponge cake, orange - flavoured jam, chocolate Variations Various limited edition flavours ( Lemon and lime, strawberry, black currant ) Cookbook : Jaffa Cakes Media : Jaffa Cakes Jaffa Cakes are biscuit - sized cakes introduced by McVitie and Price in the UK in 1927 and named after Jaffa oranges. The most common form of Jaffa cakes are circular, 2 ⁄ inches ( 54 mm ) in diameter and have three layers : a Genoise sponge base, a layer of orange flavoured jam and a coating of chocolate. Jaffa cakes are also available as bars or in small packs, and in larger and smaller sizes. The original Jaffa Cakes come in packs of 12, 24 or 36. Because McVitie 's did not trademark the name `` Jaffa Cakes '', other biscuit manufacturers and supermarkets have made similar products under the same name. The product 's classification as a cake or biscuit was part of a VAT tribunal in 1991, with the court finding in McVitie 's favour that the Jaffa cake should be considered a cake for tax purposes. In 2012 they were ranked the best selling cake or biscuit in the United Kingdom. Contents 1 Manufacture 2 Flavour variants 3 Categorisation as cake or biscuit for VAT 4 References Manufacture McVitie 's entire line of Jaffa cakes are produced in the United Kingdom at the McVitie 's factory in Stockport. The Jaffa cake production area covers an acre ( 4,000 m ) and includes a production line over a mile ( 1.6 km ) long which sits on the Stockport side of the site 's boundary with Manchester. Because of the nature of the product -- having multiple components of cake, chocolate covering and jam -- special hardware accelerators were devised to allow rapid computer inspection of 20 products per second, taking place under four symmetrically placed lights. Flavour variants Although Jaffa cakes are usually orange flavour, limited edition flavours have been available, such as lemon - and - lime, strawberry and blackcurrant. Categorisation as cake or biscuit for VAT In the United Kingdom, value added tax is payable on chocolate - covered biscuits, but not on chocolate - covered cakes. McVities defended its classification of Jaffa Cakes as cakes at a VAT tribunal in 1991, against the ruling that Jaffa cakes were biscuits due to their size and shape, and the fact that they were often eaten in place of biscuits. McVities insisted that the product was a cake, and allegedly produced a giant Jaffa cake in court to illustrate its point. The product was assessed on the following criteria : The product 's name was regarded as a minor consideration. The ingredients were regarded as similar to those of a cake, producing a thin cake - like batter rather than the thick dough of a biscuit. The product 's texture was regarded as being that of a sponge cake. The product hardens when stale, in the manner of a cake. A substantial part of the Jaffa cake, in terms of bulk and texture, is sponge. In size, the Jaffa cake is more like a biscuit than a cake. The product was generally displayed for sale alongside other biscuits, rather than with cakes. The product is presented as a snack and eaten with the fingers, like a biscuit, rather than with a fork as a cake might be. The tribunal also considered that children would eat them in `` a few mouthfuls '', in the manner of a sweet. The court found in favour of McVitie 's and ruled that the product should be considered a cake, meaning that VAT is not paid on Jaffa cakes in the United Kingdom. In Ireland, Jaffa cakes are regarded as cakes by Revenue as their moisture content is greater than 12 %. As a result, they are charged the reduced rate of VAT ( 13.5 % as of 2016 ). References Jump up ^ `` Labelling rules ''. Food Standards Agency. 9 April 2008. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Jump up ^ `` Jaffa Cake 's lemon squeezy bar ''. Thegrocer.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2010. Jump up ^ `` Jaffa Cakes, A Cake Or Buscuit ? ''. ColdRicePudding. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2010. ^ Jump up to : Harry Wallop ( 6 May 2012 ). `` Jaffa Cakes - definitely not biscuits - prepare to take on imitators ''. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 January 2013. Jump up ^ VAT Tribunal case LON / 91 / 0160 ( United Biscuits ) Jump up ^ `` Jaffa Cakes - definitely not biscuits - prepare to take on imitators ''. The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 December 2014 Jump up ^ `` The factory where life is sweet ''. Manchester Evening News. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2013. Jump up ^ `` Machine Vision for the Inspection of Natural Products -- Google Books ''. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2 November 2012. Jump up ^ `` McVitie 's Jaffa Cakes Lemon and Lime ''. Snackspot.org.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2010. Jump up ^ `` McVitie 's launches limited edition Strawberry - flavoured Jaffa Cakes ''. Talkingretail.com. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2010. Jump up ^ `` Jaffa Cakeover ''. The Daily Record. 12 December 2005. Retrieved 22 June 2010. ^ Jump up to : Lee, Natalie ( 2011 ). Revenue Law Principles and Practice. A&C Black. p. 1009. ISBN 9781847667663. ^ Jump up to : `` What you do -- and do n't -- pay VAT on ''. Which ? Magazine. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2012. Jump up ^ `` United Kingdom VAT & Duties Tribunals Decisions -- Torq Ltd v Revenue and Customs ( 2005 ) ''. British and Irish Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 27 September 2012. Jump up ^ `` Excepted items : Confectionery : The bounds of confectionery, sweets, chocolates, chocolate biscuits, cakes and biscuits : The borderline between cakes and biscuits ''. hmrc.gov.uk. Jump up ^ `` The borderline between cakes and biscuits ''. Retrieved 28 April 2013. Jump up ^ JAFFA CAKES ( Food and drink for human consumption ) at the Wayback Machine ( archived January 7, 2018 ) Snack cakes Alfajor Chocodile Twinkie Choco pie Ding Dong Fudge Rounds Gansito Ho Hos Hostess CupCake Jaffa Cakes Jos. Louis May West Moon pie Sno Balls Suzy Q Twinkie Wagon Wheels Whoopie pie Yodels Zingers Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jaffa_Cakes&oldid=819048427 '' Categories : British cakes United Biscuits brands Brand name snack foods Biscuits ( British style ) Products introduced in 1927 Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use dmy dates from October 2014 Use British English from May 2013 Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism Pages using deprecated image syntax Talk View source Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch فارسی Français עברית Nederlands Norsk Polski Scots Suomi 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 7 January 2018, at 03 : 19. About Wikipedia

Question: is jaffa cakes a biscuit or a cake
Answer: cakes; Cake; the Jaffa cake should be considered a cake for tax purposes; biscuit-sized cakes