With their sweet disc of orange jelly, comforting spongey base, and wafer-thin layer of chocolate, there’s no doubt Jaffa Cakes are a delectable British treat. But what’s more open to debate is their identity – are they cakes or biscuits? Well, the conundrum may finally be settled this National Cake Day thanks to the world’s most popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.
ChatGPT said ‘Jaffa Cakes are cakes’, largely because they become hard when stale, which is ‘a characteristic of cakes rather than biscuits’. Google’s Bard – ChatGPT’s main competitor – sounded even more adamant, saying ‘Jaffa Cakes are cake, not biscuit’.
Both Bard and ChatGPT referred to a legal decision from more than 30 years ago to back up their answer. In 1991, McVitie’s, which has been making the orange-flavored delicacy since 1927, went to court to argue that Jaffa Cakes should be classified as cakes.
McVitie’s had been challenged for labeling its chocolate orange treats as ‘cakes’ by Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise. ‘The court ruled in favor of McVitie’s, stating that Jaffa Cakes are indeed cakes. ‘So, in the eyes of the law, Jaffa Cakes are cakes,’ said ChatGPT.
This National Cake Day, the Jaffa Cake debate has been put to rest, thanks to AI chatbots ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. Both chatbots firmly assert that Jaffa Cakes are cakes, citing their hardening characteristics when stale, a trait commonly associated with cakes rather than biscuits. Their determination is further supported by a legal decision from 1991 when McVitie’s successfully argued that Jaffa Cakes should be classified as cakes, allowing them to avoid value-added tax.
The debate surrounding Jaffa Cakes has long divided fans, with some arguing they should be classified as biscuits due to their appearance, serving tradition, and lack of residue left on the fingers when consumed. Renowned figures such as cookery writer Nigel Slater and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have joined the biscuit camp. However, the cake camp boasts notable supporters, including actor Stephen Fry, scriptwriter John O’Farrell, and cook Nigella Lawson.
This is not the first time artificial intelligence has been involved in settling the heated debate. In 2021, Dr. Héloïse Stevance from Oxford University’s department of physics trained algorithms using nearly 100 recipes of traditional cakes and biscuits. When running two Jaffa Cake recipes through these algorithms, they both unequivocally identified the treat as a cake.
Despite this compelling evidence, skeptics reject the scientific approach, arguing that Jaffa Cakes resemble biscuits in terms of size, shape, traditional serving, and their respective placement in supermarkets. Nevertheless, the court ruling and AI consensus lend significant weight to the argument that Jaffa Cakes are indeed cakes.
So, the next time you settle down with a packet of Jaffa Cakes, rest assured that you are indulging in a cake, not a biscuit. National Cake Day has provided a definitive answer to this long-standing debate, allowing Jaffa Cake enthusiasts to enjoy their favorite treat without further dilemma.
