Cakes vs. Biscuits

Two things we learned rather quickly:
1) Biscuits (a.k.a. cookies) are a necessity in England, and they are almost never homemade.
2) Cake is the overarching word for dessert and it is the dessert of choice; for example, it is what you are asked to bring to lots of different events and  it is what the schools sell to earn money (rather than a bake sale).

What's funny is cakes are not taxed but luxury biscuits are (I think luxury biscuits are defined as those that are at least partially covered in chocolate).  Not a huge deal, unless you're the company that makes Jaffa Cakes.

The question is, is it a biscuit or is it a cake?  Here are the factors HM Revenue & Customs considered when making their decision:

• The product’s name was a minor consideration.
• Ingredients:Cake can be made of widely differing ingredients, but Jaffa cakes were made of an egg, flour, and sugar mixture which was aerated on cooking and was the same as a traditional sponge cake. It was a thin batter rather than the thicker dough expected for a biscuit texture.
• Cake would be expected to be soft and friable; biscuit would be expected to be crisp and able to be snapped. Jaffa cakes had the texture of sponge cake.
• Size: Jaffa cakes were in size more like biscuits than cakes.
• Packaging: Jaffa cakes were sold in packages more similar to biscuits than cakes.
• Marketing: Jaffa cakes were generally displayed for sale with biscuits rather than cakes.
• On going stale, a Jaffa cake goes hard like a cake rather than soft like a biscuit.
• Jaffa cakes are presented as a snack, eaten with the fingers, whereas a cake may be more often expected to be eaten with a fork. They also appeal to children, who could eat one in a few mouthfuls rather like a sweet.
• The sponge part of a Jaffa cake is a substantial part of the product in terms of bulk and texture when eaten.

Looking at all the above info, they decided Jaffa Cakes were enough like a cake to be labeled a cake, and thus not taxed.