The perfect way to eat a Jaffa Cake, according to a food scientist

Are you a ‘half mooner’ or a ‘scoffer’?

(Getty/iStock)

We are a nation of cake-lovers, there’s no doubt about it.

From Victoria sponges to lemon drizzles, Brits sure do know how to show their appreciation for cake.

However, when it comes to the classic Jaffa Cake, it appears that the country is torn over the best way to consume the popular treat.

McVitie’s has conducted research to discover how people in the UK prefer to eat Jaffa Cakes, with 92 per cent of the nation describing themselves as Jaffa Cake fans.

Their results concluded that 35 per cent of people are “half mooners”, opting to enjoy a Jaffa Cake in two bites by first biting it in half to resemble a half moon and then finishing off the rest.

28 per cent are “all rounders”, choosing to first nibble their Jaffa Cakes around the edge.

A fifth of people are “scoffers”, who eat an entire Jaffa Cake in one go, while six per cent are “jelly lovers”, who enjoy going straight for the orange jelly inside.

McVitie’s has enlisted the help of food science expert Dr Stuart Farrimond to determine the ideal way to eat a Jaffa Cake once and for all.

According to Dr Farrimond, the best way to make the most of a Jaffa Cake is to ensure that you eat a balanced combination of zesty orange, chocolate and sponge.

So, he recommends utilising the “all rounder” method, first nibbling the Jaffa Cake around the edge, in order to then leave yourself with a perfect ratio of those three layers.

“We ran a panel of experiments to discover the best ratio of chocolate, orange jam and sponge,” Dr Farrimond explained.

‘Whilst the most common way to eat a Jaffa Cake is the ‘half mooner’ technique, our research concluded that the ‘all rounder’ with the middle of portion of the Jaffa Cake eaten as one, gives the optimum sweetness, taste and flavour, and this can only be fully appreciated by nibbling the edge off first and then eating the middle portion alone.”

McVitie’s has published these findings in the “McVitie’s Zest Report”, which assessed the four most popular methods for eating Jaffa Cakes.

The scientific investigation also discovered that people from Birmingham love Jaffa Cakes the most in the UK, closely followed by residents from London and Wales.