Jaffa Cakes
It's from 1927, before you were born.
- Maker
- McVitie's (pladis)
- Origin
- United Kingdom
- Debuted
- 1927
- Note
- famously 'cake, not biscuit'
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About
As of 2026, it's 99 years old.
Jaffa Cakes are the snack that went to court over whether it's a cake or a biscuit — and won, on a technicality involving how it goes stale. (Cakes harden; biscuits soften. Jaffa Cakes harden. Case closed, taxes saved.) A sponge base, orange jelly, and chocolate, they are the only teatime treat with case law.
Introduced by McVitie's in 1927, the 'cake or biscuit' debate has outlived the actual lawsuit and remains a genuinely heated British argument.
Small, citrusy, and legally a cake, the Jaffa Cake is the only snack you can both eat and cite in a tax tribunal.
Jaffa Cakes through the years
Introduced by McVitie's
Ruled a 'cake' in court
A landmark UK tax case settles their classification — sort of.
