A biscuit (
/ˈbɪskɨt/) is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations.
The Middle French word bescuit is derived from the Latin words bis (twice) and coquere, coctus (to cook, cooked), and, hence, means "twice-cooked".[1] This is because biscuits were originally cooked in a twofold process: first baked, and then dried out in a slow oven.[2] Hence:
However, the Dutch language from around 1703 had adopted the word koekje, a language diminutive of cake, to have a similar meaning for a similar hard, baked product.[4] This may be related[citation needed] to the Russian or Ukrainian translation, where "biscuit" has come to mean "sponge cake".
The difference between the secondary Dutch word and that of Latin origin is that, whereas the koekje is a cake that rises during baking, the biscuit, which has no raising agent, in general does not (see gingerbread/ginger biscuit), except for the expansion of heated air during baking.[citation needed]
When peoples from Europe began to emigrate to the United States, the two words and their "same but different" meanings began to clash. After the American War of Independence against the British, the word cookie became the word of choice to mean a hard, twice-baked product.[citation needed]
Further confusion has been added by the adoption of the word biscuit for a small leavened bread popular in the United States.
Today, according to American English dictionary Merriam-Webster:
Ship's biscuit display in Kronborg, Denmark
The introduction of the baking of processed cereals including the creation of flour provided a more reliable source of food. Egyptian sailors carried a flat, brittle loaf of millet bread called dhourra cake, while the Romans had a biscuit called buccellum.[5] Roman cookbook Apicius describes:
Many early physicians believed most medicinal problems were associated with digestion. Hence, for both sustenance and avoidance of illness, a daily consumption of a biscuit was considered good for health.
Hard biscuits soften as they age. To solve this problem early bakers attempted to create the hardest biscuit possible. Because it is so hard and dry, if properly stored and transported, navies' hardtack will survive rough handling and high temperature. Baked hard, it can be kept without spoiling for years as long as it is kept dry. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times, rather than the more common two, and prepared six months before sailing.[6] To soften hardtack for eating, it was often dunked in brine, coffee, or some other liquid or cooked into a skillet meal.
The more refined captain's biscuit was made with finer flour.
At the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the daily allowance on board a Royal Navy ship was one pound of biscuit plus one gallon of beer. Samuel Pepys in 1667 first regularised naval victualling with varied and nutritious rations. Royal Navy hardtack during Queen Victoria's reign was made by machine at the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard at Gosport, Hampshire, stamped with the Queen's mark and the number of the oven in which they were baked. Biscuits remained an important part of the Royal Navy sailor’s diet until the introduction of canned foods. Canned meat was first marketed in 1814; preserved beef in tins was officially added to Royal Navy rations in 1847.[5]
Traditional Polish toruń gingerbreadEarly biscuits were hard, dry, and unsweetened. They were most often cooked after bread, in a cooling bakers' oven; they were a cheap form of sustenance for the poor.
By the seventh century AD, cooks of the Persian empire had learnt from their forebears the secrets of lightening and enriching bread-based mixtures with eggs, butter, and cream, and sweetening them with fruit and honey.[7] One of the earliest spiced biscuits was gingerbread, in French pain d'épices, meaning "spice bread", brought to Europe in 992 by the Armenian monk Grégoire de Nicopolis. He left Nicopolis Pompeii, in Lesser Armenia to live in Bondaroy, France, near the town of Pithiviers. He stayed there for seven years, and taught French priests and Christians how to cook gingerbread.[8][9][10] This was originally a dense, treaclely (molasses-based) spice cake or bread. As it was so expensive to make, early ginger biscuits were a cheap form of using up the leftover bread mix.
With the combination of the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, and then the Crusades developing the spice trade, the cooking techniques and ingredients of Arabia spread into Northern Europe.[7] By mediaeval times, biscuits were made from a sweetened, spiced paste of breadcrumbs and then baked (e.g., gingerbread), or from cooked bread enriched with sugar and spices and then baked again.[11] King Richard I of England, (aka Richard the Lionheart) left for the Third Crusade (1189–92) with "biskit of muslin", which was a mixed corn compound of barley, rye, and bean flour.[5]
As the making and quality of bread had been controlled to this point, so were the skills of biscuit making through the Craft Guilds.[7] As the supply of sugar began, and the refinement and supply of flour increased, so did the ability to sample more leisurely foodstuffs, including sweet biscuits. Early references from the Vadstena monastery show how the Swedish nuns were baking gingerbread to ease digestion in 1444.[12] The first documented trade of gingerbread biscuits dates to the 16th century, where they were sold in monastery pharmacies and town square farmers markets. Gingerbread became widely available in the 18th century. The British biscuit firms of Carrs, Huntley & Palmer, and Crawfords were all established by 1850.[13]
Hence, it is of no surprise that, often together with local farm produce of meat and cheese, many regions of the world have their own distinct style of biscuit, so old is this form of food.
Most modern biscuits can trace their origins back to either the hardtack ships biscuit, or the creative art of the baker:
Dunking a biscuitSweet biscuits are commonly eaten as a snack food, and are, in general, made with wheat flour or oats, and sweetened with sugar or honey. Varieties may contain chocolate, fruit, jam, nuts, or even be used to sandwich other fillings. There is usually a dedicated section for sweet biscuits in most European supermarkets.
In Britain, the digestive biscuit and rich tea have a strong cultural identity as the traditional accompaniment to a cup of tea, and are regularly eaten as such. Many tea drinkers "dunk" their biscuits in tea, allowing them to absorb liquid and soften slightly before consumption.
A dark chocolate Tim TamSavoury biscuits or crackers (such as cream crackers, water biscuits, oatcakes, or crisp breads) are usually plainer and commonly eaten with cheese following a meal. A large variety of savoury biscuits also contain additional ingredients for flavour or texture, such as poppy seeds, onion or onion seeds, cheese (such as cheese melts), and olives. Savoury biscuits also usually have a dedicated section in most European supermarkets, often in the same aisle as sweet biscuits. The exception to savoury biscuits is the sweetmeal digestive known as the "Hovis biscuit", which, although slightly sweet, is still classified as a cheese biscuit.
In general, Australians, South Africans, New Zealanders, Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Singaporeans, and the Irish use the British meaning of "biscuit" (colloquially referred to as a "bickie") for the sweet biscuit. In Canada, the terms biscuit and cookie are used interchangeably, depending on the region, with biscuits usually referring to hard, sweet biscuits (i.e. digestives, Nice, Bourbon creams) and cookies for soft baked goods (i.e. chocolate chip cookies). Two famous Australasian biscuit varieties are the ANZAC biscuit and the Tim Tam. This sense is at the root of the name of the United States' most prominent maker of cookies and crackers, the National Biscuit Company, now called Nabisco.
/ˈbɪskɨt/) is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations.- In the United States it is a small, soft, leavened bread, somewhat similar to a scone.
- In Commonwealth English, it is a small and hard, often sweet, baked product that would be called either a cookie or a cracker in the United States and Canada.
Contents |
[edit] Etymology
The modern-day confusion in the English language around the word "biscuit" is created by its etymology.The Middle French word bescuit is derived from the Latin words bis (twice) and coquere, coctus (to cook, cooked), and, hence, means "twice-cooked".[1] This is because biscuits were originally cooked in a twofold process: first baked, and then dried out in a slow oven.[2] Hence:
- Biscotti in Medieval Italian
- Biscuit in Modern French
- Zwieback in German
- Beschuit in Dutch
- Bizcocho in Spanish
- Biscoito in Portuguese
- Biszkopt ("sponge cake") in Polish
- Biskota in Albanian
- Biskotso in the Philippines
- Bishkut in Bengali
However, the Dutch language from around 1703 had adopted the word koekje, a language diminutive of cake, to have a similar meaning for a similar hard, baked product.[4] This may be related[citation needed] to the Russian or Ukrainian translation, where "biscuit" has come to mean "sponge cake".
The difference between the secondary Dutch word and that of Latin origin is that, whereas the koekje is a cake that rises during baking, the biscuit, which has no raising agent, in general does not (see gingerbread/ginger biscuit), except for the expansion of heated air during baking.[citation needed]
When peoples from Europe began to emigrate to the United States, the two words and their "same but different" meanings began to clash. After the American War of Independence against the British, the word cookie became the word of choice to mean a hard, twice-baked product.[citation needed]
Further confusion has been added by the adoption of the word biscuit for a small leavened bread popular in the United States.
Today, according to American English dictionary Merriam-Webster:
- A cookie is a "small flat or slightly raised cake".[4]
- A biscuit is "any of various hard or crisp dry baked product" similar to the American English terms cracker or cookie.[3]
- A biscuit can also mean "a small quick bread made from dough that has been rolled out and cut or dropped from a spoon".[3]
[edit] History
[edit] Biscuits for travel
Main article: Hardtack
The need for nutritious, easy-to-store, easy-to-carry, and long-lasting foods on long journeys, in particular at sea, was initially solved by taking live food along with a butcher/cook. However, this took up additional space on what were either horse-powered treks or small ships, reducing the time of travel before additional food was required. This resulted in early armies' adopting the style of hunter-foraging.The introduction of the baking of processed cereals including the creation of flour provided a more reliable source of food. Egyptian sailors carried a flat, brittle loaf of millet bread called dhourra cake, while the Romans had a biscuit called buccellum.[5] Roman cookbook Apicius describes:
| “ | a thick paste of fine wheat flour was boiled and spread out on a plate. When it had dried and hardened, it was cut up and then fried until crisp, then served with honey and pepper. | ” |
Hard biscuits soften as they age. To solve this problem early bakers attempted to create the hardest biscuit possible. Because it is so hard and dry, if properly stored and transported, navies' hardtack will survive rough handling and high temperature. Baked hard, it can be kept without spoiling for years as long as it is kept dry. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times, rather than the more common two, and prepared six months before sailing.[6] To soften hardtack for eating, it was often dunked in brine, coffee, or some other liquid or cooked into a skillet meal.
The more refined captain's biscuit was made with finer flour.
At the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the daily allowance on board a Royal Navy ship was one pound of biscuit plus one gallon of beer. Samuel Pepys in 1667 first regularised naval victualling with varied and nutritious rations. Royal Navy hardtack during Queen Victoria's reign was made by machine at the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard at Gosport, Hampshire, stamped with the Queen's mark and the number of the oven in which they were baked. Biscuits remained an important part of the Royal Navy sailor’s diet until the introduction of canned foods. Canned meat was first marketed in 1814; preserved beef in tins was officially added to Royal Navy rations in 1847.[5]
[edit] Biscuits for pleasure
By the seventh century AD, cooks of the Persian empire had learnt from their forebears the secrets of lightening and enriching bread-based mixtures with eggs, butter, and cream, and sweetening them with fruit and honey.[7] One of the earliest spiced biscuits was gingerbread, in French pain d'épices, meaning "spice bread", brought to Europe in 992 by the Armenian monk Grégoire de Nicopolis. He left Nicopolis Pompeii, in Lesser Armenia to live in Bondaroy, France, near the town of Pithiviers. He stayed there for seven years, and taught French priests and Christians how to cook gingerbread.[8][9][10] This was originally a dense, treaclely (molasses-based) spice cake or bread. As it was so expensive to make, early ginger biscuits were a cheap form of using up the leftover bread mix.
With the combination of the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, and then the Crusades developing the spice trade, the cooking techniques and ingredients of Arabia spread into Northern Europe.[7] By mediaeval times, biscuits were made from a sweetened, spiced paste of breadcrumbs and then baked (e.g., gingerbread), or from cooked bread enriched with sugar and spices and then baked again.[11] King Richard I of England, (aka Richard the Lionheart) left for the Third Crusade (1189–92) with "biskit of muslin", which was a mixed corn compound of barley, rye, and bean flour.[5]
As the making and quality of bread had been controlled to this point, so were the skills of biscuit making through the Craft Guilds.[7] As the supply of sugar began, and the refinement and supply of flour increased, so did the ability to sample more leisurely foodstuffs, including sweet biscuits. Early references from the Vadstena monastery show how the Swedish nuns were baking gingerbread to ease digestion in 1444.[12] The first documented trade of gingerbread biscuits dates to the 16th century, where they were sold in monastery pharmacies and town square farmers markets. Gingerbread became widely available in the 18th century. The British biscuit firms of Carrs, Huntley & Palmer, and Crawfords were all established by 1850.[13]
Hence, it is of no surprise that, often together with local farm produce of meat and cheese, many regions of the world have their own distinct style of biscuit, so old is this form of food.
[edit] Biscuits today
 | This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011) |
- Ships biscuit derived: Digestive, rich tea, Abernethy, cracker[citation needed]
- Bakers art: Biscuit rose de Reims
In Britain, the digestive biscuit and rich tea have a strong cultural identity as the traditional accompaniment to a cup of tea, and are regularly eaten as such. Many tea drinkers "dunk" their biscuits in tea, allowing them to absorb liquid and soften slightly before consumption.
In general, Australians, South Africans, New Zealanders, Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Singaporeans, and the Irish use the British meaning of "biscuit" (colloquially referred to as a "bickie") for the sweet biscuit. In Canada, the terms biscuit and cookie are used interchangeably, depending on the region, with biscuits usually referring to hard, sweet biscuits (i.e. digestives, Nice, Bourbon creams) and cookies for soft baked goods (i.e. chocolate chip cookies). Two famous Australasian biscuit varieties are the ANZAC biscuit and the Tim Tam. This sense is at the root of the name of the United States' most prominent maker of cookies and crackers, the National Biscuit Company, now called Nabisco.
History of Biscuits - Britannia
Sweet or salty. Soft or crunchy. Simple or exotic. Everybody loves munching on biscuits, but do they know how biscuits began?
The history of biscuits can be traced back to a recipe created by the Roman chef Apicius, in which "a thick paste of fine wheat flour was boiled and spread out on a plate. When it had dried and hardened it was cut up and then fried until crisp, then served with honey and pepper."
The word 'Biscuit' is derived from the Latin words 'Bis' (meaning 'twice') and 'Coctus' (meaning cooked or baked). The word 'Biscotti' is also the generic term for cookies in Italian. Back then, biscuits were unleavened, hard and thin wafers which, because of their low water content, were ideal food to store.
As people started to explore the globe, biscuits became the ideal travelling food since they stayed fresh for long periods. The seafaring age, thus, witnessed the boom of biscuits when these were sealed in airtight containers to last for months at a time. Hard track biscuits (earliest version of the biscotti and present-day crackers) were part of the staple diet of English and American sailors for many centuries. In fact, the countries which led this seafaring charge, such as those in Western Europe, are the ones where biscuits are most popular even today. Biscotti is said to have been a favourite of Christopher Columbus who discovered America!
Making good biscuits is quite an art, and history bears testimony to that. During the 17th and 18th Centuries in Europe, baking was a carefully controlled profession, managed through a series of 'guilds' or professional associations. To become a baker, one had to complete years of apprenticeship - working through the ranks of apprentice, journeyman, and finally master baker. Not only this, the amount and quality of biscuits baked were also carefully monitored.
The English, Scotch and Dutch immigrants originally brought the first cookies to the United States and they were called teacakes. They were often flavoured with nothing more than the finest butter, sometimes with the addition of a few drops of rose water. Cookies in America were also called by such names as "jumbles", "plunkets" and "cry babies".
As technology improved during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the price of sugar and flour dropped. Chemical leavening agents, such as baking soda, became available and a profusion of cookie recipes occurred. This led to the development of manufactured cookies.
Interestingly, as time has passed and despite more varieties becoming available, the essential ingredients of biscuits haven't changed - like 'soft' wheat flour (which contains less protein than the flour used to bake bread) sugar, and fats, such as butter and oil. Today, though they are known by different names the world over, people agree on one thing - nothing beats the biscuit!
Some interesting facts on the origin of other forms of biscuits:
The recipe for oval shaped cookies (that are also known as boudoir biscuits, sponge biscuits, sponge fingers, Naples biscuits and Savoy biscuits) has changed little in 900 years and dates back to the house of Savoy in the 11th century France. Peter the Great of Russia seems to have enjoyed an oval-shaped cookie called "lady fingers" when visiting Louis XV of France.
The macaroon - a small round cookie with crisp crust and a soft interior - seems to have originated in an Italian monastery in 1792 during the French Revolution.
SPRING-uhr-lee, have been traditional Christmas cookies in Austria and Bavaria for centuries. They are made from a simple egg, flour and sugar dough and are usually rectangular in shape. These cookies are made with a leavening agent called ammonium carbonate and baking ammonia.
The inspiration for fortune cookies dates back to the 12th and 13th Centuries, when Chinese soldiers slipped rice paper messages into moon cakes to help co-ordinate their defence against Mongolian invaders.
In 1927 the business transferred to new larger premises on the outskirts of Batley, the present site. By now Michael Spedding Fox and Alfred Henry Fox had joined their father in the company. Working closely together, they extended the product range to include top quality biscuits as well as the original brandy snaps.
In 1960, the Company's name was changed to Fox's Biscuits, and registered as a public limited company. In 1966 the factory in Kirkham, Lancashire was acquired.
In the mid 1970s, Fox's needed to expand the business. This needed substantial capital investment, which came from the partnership between Fox's and the then milk marketing giant, Northern Dairies. Northern Dairies, through its acquisition of a number of other companies in a similar position to Fox, became the Parent Company, Northern Foods.
In 2004 Elkes Biscuits, based in Uttoxeter, which was also part of the Northern Foods group, became part of Fox's biscuits and our third manufacturing site.
UB’s products are available through many retail outlets. UB works closely with its retail customers by offering them advice on merchandising as well as consumer insight into relevant product categories.
Crisps and snacks
The total Bagged Snacks market is currently worth £2bn and continues to grow. The UB portfolio is responsible for 17% of total sales and includes top performing brands like McCoys, Hula Hoops, Mini Cheddars and KP, which customers expect to find in-store. When customers are buying bagged snacks, they will either be looking for a handypack to eat there and then, a bigger multipack to take home and enjoy later or perhaps use as part of a balanced packed lunch. UB can provide category advice on how to maximise sales through getting the right range, the right layout and the right location in-store.
Biscuits
The total UK Biscuits market is worth £2bn. The UB biscuits portfolio is responsible for more than 30% of total biscuit sales and includes top performing brands like the McVitie's range and McVitie's Jaffa Cakes which customers look for on the biscuits fixture. UB can provide category advice on how to maximise sales through getting the right range, the right layout and the right location in-store.
Comment
The history of biscuits can be traced back to a recipe created by the Roman chef Apicius, in which "a thick paste of fine wheat flour was boiled and spread out on a plate. When it had dried and hardened it was cut up and then fried until crisp, then served with honey and pepper."
The word 'Biscuit' is derived from the Latin words 'Bis' (meaning 'twice') and 'Coctus' (meaning cooked or baked). The word 'Biscotti' is also the generic term for cookies in Italian. Back then, biscuits were unleavened, hard and thin wafers which, because of their low water content, were ideal food to store.
As people started to explore the globe, biscuits became the ideal travelling food since they stayed fresh for long periods. The seafaring age, thus, witnessed the boom of biscuits when these were sealed in airtight containers to last for months at a time. Hard track biscuits (earliest version of the biscotti and present-day crackers) were part of the staple diet of English and American sailors for many centuries. In fact, the countries which led this seafaring charge, such as those in Western Europe, are the ones where biscuits are most popular even today. Biscotti is said to have been a favourite of Christopher Columbus who discovered America!
Making good biscuits is quite an art, and history bears testimony to that. During the 17th and 18th Centuries in Europe, baking was a carefully controlled profession, managed through a series of 'guilds' or professional associations. To become a baker, one had to complete years of apprenticeship - working through the ranks of apprentice, journeyman, and finally master baker. Not only this, the amount and quality of biscuits baked were also carefully monitored.
The English, Scotch and Dutch immigrants originally brought the first cookies to the United States and they were called teacakes. They were often flavoured with nothing more than the finest butter, sometimes with the addition of a few drops of rose water. Cookies in America were also called by such names as "jumbles", "plunkets" and "cry babies".
As technology improved during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the price of sugar and flour dropped. Chemical leavening agents, such as baking soda, became available and a profusion of cookie recipes occurred. This led to the development of manufactured cookies.
Interestingly, as time has passed and despite more varieties becoming available, the essential ingredients of biscuits haven't changed - like 'soft' wheat flour (which contains less protein than the flour used to bake bread) sugar, and fats, such as butter and oil. Today, though they are known by different names the world over, people agree on one thing - nothing beats the biscuit!
Some interesting facts on the origin of other forms of biscuits:
The recipe for oval shaped cookies (that are also known as boudoir biscuits, sponge biscuits, sponge fingers, Naples biscuits and Savoy biscuits) has changed little in 900 years and dates back to the house of Savoy in the 11th century France. Peter the Great of Russia seems to have enjoyed an oval-shaped cookie called "lady fingers" when visiting Louis XV of France.
The macaroon - a small round cookie with crisp crust and a soft interior - seems to have originated in an Italian monastery in 1792 during the French Revolution.
SPRING-uhr-lee, have been traditional Christmas cookies in Austria and Bavaria for centuries. They are made from a simple egg, flour and sugar dough and are usually rectangular in shape. These cookies are made with a leavening agent called ammonium carbonate and baking ammonia.
The inspiration for fortune cookies dates back to the 12th and 13th Centuries, when Chinese soldiers slipped rice paper messages into moon cakes to help co-ordinate their defence against Mongolian invaders.
History
Fox's Biscuits was founded in 1853 by Michael Spedding, who opened a small confectionery shop in the centre of Batley. One of the first biscuits developed was Brandy Snap. In 1864 the business moved to new premises, a bakehouse next door to Michael Spedding's home. Michael Spedding retired in 1897 and the business passed to his son-in-law, Fred Ellis Fox.In 1927 the business transferred to new larger premises on the outskirts of Batley, the present site. By now Michael Spedding Fox and Alfred Henry Fox had joined their father in the company. Working closely together, they extended the product range to include top quality biscuits as well as the original brandy snaps.
In 1960, the Company's name was changed to Fox's Biscuits, and registered as a public limited company. In 1966 the factory in Kirkham, Lancashire was acquired.
In the mid 1970s, Fox's needed to expand the business. This needed substantial capital investment, which came from the partnership between Fox's and the then milk marketing giant, Northern Dairies. Northern Dairies, through its acquisition of a number of other companies in a similar position to Fox, became the Parent Company, Northern Foods.
In 2004 Elkes Biscuits, based in Uttoxeter, which was also part of the Northern Foods group, became part of Fox's biscuits and our third manufacturing site.
UB’s products are available through many retail outlets. UB works closely with its retail customers by offering them advice on merchandising as well as consumer insight into relevant product categories.
Crisps and snacks
The total Bagged Snacks market is currently worth £2bn and continues to grow. The UB portfolio is responsible for 17% of total sales and includes top performing brands like McCoys, Hula Hoops, Mini Cheddars and KP, which customers expect to find in-store. When customers are buying bagged snacks, they will either be looking for a handypack to eat there and then, a bigger multipack to take home and enjoy later or perhaps use as part of a balanced packed lunch. UB can provide category advice on how to maximise sales through getting the right range, the right layout and the right location in-store.
Biscuits
The total UK Biscuits market is worth £2bn. The UB biscuits portfolio is responsible for more than 30% of total biscuit sales and includes top performing brands like the McVitie's range and McVitie's Jaffa Cakes which customers look for on the biscuits fixture. UB can provide category advice on how to maximise sales through getting the right range, the right layout and the right location in-store.
Mirror.co.uk top ten: Great British biscuits to beat the Oreo Invasion
By biscuit correspondent Stuart Payne 6/05/2008
In light of the Oreo invasion and its threat to Britain’s tea drinking, biscuit-dunking culture, here’s ten examples of why British biscuits are the best in the world.
Chocolate DigestiveIt’s our biggest-selling biscuit by a mile, and as a nation we eat 52 of them every second. The Chocolate Digestive is the chocolate biscuit which all others look to. The dark chocolate ones have their own band of fiercely loyal followers who pour scorn on the milk chocolate version, so watch out for that.
Hobnob
This oaty biscuit first hit British tins in the 1980s and shot to overnight success, rapidly becoming one of the nation’s favourites. Peter Kay’s famous Hobnob dunking routine has just added to its legendary status.
Custard Cream
The timeless Custard Cream, with its charming swirly-patterned top, has been with us since Victorian times but is still a huge favourite today. Split them apart to get at the cream or just pop them in them in whole.
Bourbon
A cocoa laden yin to the Custard Cream’s yang. With sleeker lines than its custardy friend it lends itself to dunking. Look for the regulation ten holes and those little grains of sugar baked into the top.
Tunnocks Wafer
Perhaps Scotland's most important export after North Sea oil. The distinctive red and gold wrapper and chewy caramel and chocolate wafer speak to us from simpler days gone by. The Tunnocks Chocolate Caramel Wafer, to give its proper name, proudly boasts that it sells four million a week.
Jaffa Cake
Strictly a cake rather than a biscuit, this is of little concern to the millions of us who regularly pop them in our trollies. Again a terrific one for either nibbling and dismantling into its parts or wading into quick fire.
Gingernut
A biscuit with a bit of fight in it, the gingernut is both spicy and hard. Tame them with a hot cuppa, but keep them separate from the other biscuits or they’ll turn gingery too!
Shortbread fingers
The refined choice for many, the shortbread finger likes to imagine itself nestled in the saucer of a bone china tea cup.. probably at a croquet match. Given the amount sold it’s a fair bet a good few of them meet their end in a mug of builders' tea too.
Fig RollCurrently beset by a Turkish fig supply crisis, the fig roll is a bit of a one-off. Loved by most and loathed by some, it's one of the few biscuits to go hard when it turns stale.
Malted Milk
Very tasty, with bonus three dimensional cows on top. Careful nibbling can result in complete cow-ectomies.
Chocolate DigestiveIt’s our biggest-selling biscuit by a mile, and as a nation we eat 52 of them every second. The Chocolate Digestive is the chocolate biscuit which all others look to. The dark chocolate ones have their own band of fiercely loyal followers who pour scorn on the milk chocolate version, so watch out for that.
This oaty biscuit first hit British tins in the 1980s and shot to overnight success, rapidly becoming one of the nation’s favourites. Peter Kay’s famous Hobnob dunking routine has just added to its legendary status.
The timeless Custard Cream, with its charming swirly-patterned top, has been with us since Victorian times but is still a huge favourite today. Split them apart to get at the cream or just pop them in them in whole.
A cocoa laden yin to the Custard Cream’s yang. With sleeker lines than its custardy friend it lends itself to dunking. Look for the regulation ten holes and those little grains of sugar baked into the top.
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Perhaps Scotland's most important export after North Sea oil. The distinctive red and gold wrapper and chewy caramel and chocolate wafer speak to us from simpler days gone by. The Tunnocks Chocolate Caramel Wafer, to give its proper name, proudly boasts that it sells four million a week.
Jaffa Cake
Strictly a cake rather than a biscuit, this is of little concern to the millions of us who regularly pop them in our trollies. Again a terrific one for either nibbling and dismantling into its parts or wading into quick fire.
Gingernut
A biscuit with a bit of fight in it, the gingernut is both spicy and hard. Tame them with a hot cuppa, but keep them separate from the other biscuits or they’ll turn gingery too!
The refined choice for many, the shortbread finger likes to imagine itself nestled in the saucer of a bone china tea cup.. probably at a croquet match. Given the amount sold it’s a fair bet a good few of them meet their end in a mug of builders' tea too.
Fig RollCurrently beset by a Turkish fig supply crisis, the fig roll is a bit of a one-off. Loved by most and loathed by some, it's one of the few biscuits to go hard when it turns stale.
Malted Milk
Very tasty, with bonus three dimensional cows on top. Careful nibbling can result in complete cow-ectomies.
Biscuit sales soar as recession drives people to 'comfort food'
Biscuit sales in Britain have soared by more than 20% over the last five years as people turned to comfort food during the recession.
Sweetmeal or wholemeal biscuits are in at fourth place and tea biscuits take fifth place Photo: PA
9:15AM BST 18 May 2011
Comment Sales of biscuits, cookies and crackers have increased 22% since 2005 to reach £2.2billion in 2010.
More than half the nation (54 per cent) admit enjoying a biscuit with their tea or coffee, according to new research by market analysts Mintel.
Biscuits are seen as a traditional "comfort food", which people turn to as a cheap treat when more expensive relaxation, such as going to the cinema, is unaffordable.
And the overall UK biscuit market is set to continue to grow, as forecasts precict sales rising a further 15% to £2.6billion by 2015.
The latest figures show that 89% of 45- to 54-year-olds enjoy tea with a biscuit.
However, they are less of a temptation to 16- to 24-year-olds where biscuit eating falls to 80%.
Amy Lloyd, senior food and drink analyst at Mintel, said: "The UK biscuit industry has benefited from consumers reaching for the biscuit barrel throughout the recession, although rising commodity costs and an inability to appeal to a younger and more discerning consumer base are threatening the market.
"The ritualistic nature of eating biscuits with a hot drink appeals to consumers, demonstrating how ingrained this occasion is within British culture but emphasising the need for the biscuit category to expand beyond the tea-drinking audience."
Half-coated biscuits - such as chocolate digestives - and individually wrapped varieties are in joint first position as the nation's favourite sweet biscuit - more than one in two have brought one or other of these in the past year.
The next most popular biscuits are cookies - such as chocolate chip cookies - while cream biscuits - such as Custard Creams - take third position.
Sweetmeal or wholemeal biscuits are in at fourth place and tea biscuits take fifth place.
Within the market, "healthier" biscuits - which include lower fat and sugar varieties - dominate sector sales (£468 million), accounting for as many as a quarter of all sweet biscuits sales and increasing 16% between 2008 and 2010.
Basic ingredients for biscuit manufacturing
Flour , fat and sugar and other additives like flavours ,salts and ammonium and sodium bicarbontes.
Bakery equipments required for biscuit manufacturing
Various types of biscuit are available in market eg Plain glucose , Cracker , Digestive , Cream Sanwich ,Wafer , Enrobed and biscuits with Filling
Amy Lloyd, senior food and drink analyst at Mintel, said: "The UK biscuit industry has benefited from consumers reaching for the biscuit barrel throughout the recession, although rising commodity costs and an inability to appeal to a younger and more discerning consumer base are threatening the market.
"The ritualistic nature of eating biscuits with a hot drink appeals to consumers, demonstrating how ingrained this occasion is within British culture but emphasising the need for the biscuit category to expand beyond the tea-drinking audience."
Half-coated biscuits - such as chocolate digestives - and individually wrapped varieties are in joint first position as the nation's favourite sweet biscuit - more than one in two have brought one or other of these in the past year.
The next most popular biscuits are cookies - such as chocolate chip cookies - while cream biscuits - such as Custard Creams - take third position.
Sweetmeal or wholemeal biscuits are in at fourth place and tea biscuits take fifth place.
Within the market, "healthier" biscuits - which include lower fat and sugar varieties - dominate sector sales (£468 million), accounting for as many as a quarter of all sweet biscuits sales and increasing 16% between 2008 and 2010.
Biscuit making process
Automated Biscuit making process involves four basic stages namely mixing , forming ,baking and packing .Basic ingredients for biscuit manufacturing
Flour , fat and sugar and other additives like flavours ,salts and ammonium and sodium bicarbontes.
Bakery equipments required for biscuit manufacturing
- Mixers
- Laminator
- Dough Distributors
- Gauge rolls
- Moulder or Cutter
- Oven
- Packing machine
- Sugar Grinder
- Biscuit Grinder
- MIXING: This is a process where all ingredients are put together in right proportion for dough formation.These ingredient are then fed into Mixers where mixing is done and dough is prepared for molding .Major ingredients are flour , fat ,sugar and others as per the product one would like to have.Dough temperatures play important role in biscuit manufacturing .Next important factor is mixing time . Mixing time depends upon flour characteristics.Normally mixing time is between 10- 15 min and is performed in two or thres stages with different mixing speed .
- MOULDING: In this section we laminate the dough into sheet which then passes down to gauge rollers and sheet thickness is achieved for cutting . Here we have a cutter or a moulder as per the variety where one gets the shape and sizes of biscuits .Moulder /cutter speed again depends on different variety of biscuit.Moulders are used for short dough type of biscuit and cutters are used for sheet variety or hard dough .
- BAKING: This is the area where we pass these moulded wet biscuit into baking oven .The biscuits are baked on desired temperature s.Various type of heating are available now days as per the convenience and cost .Different type ovens are available like direct fired , indirect fired and hybrid ovens .Heating of biscuit is done by conduction , convection and radiation inside the oven .Dampers are provided to control moisture inside the oven ssection . Different heating profiles are maintain for different varities of biscuit . Normally ovens are classified as 4 zone , 5 zone or 6zone ovens where length varies from 40 mtr to 80 mtrs . Biscuits are carried on wire mesh band in oven . Baking time are different
- COOLING: These baked biscuits are then passed on to cooling conveyors for natural cooling prior to packing .The temperatures are brought down to room temperatures .The length of conveyor is sometimes 300 - 400 ft . Cooling conveors can be of two deck or 3 deck type as per space availability . Natural cooling is prefered over forced cooling as it maintains the texture quality of biscuit .
- PACKING: These biscuit are then stacked and fed into packing machine for packing. Different packing material are available for packing of these biscuit in different packs .slug packs , pouch pack or family packs etc. These packs are then put into secondary packaging like cartons to be transported to retailers.Packing material used for biscuit packaging are BOPP ,Laminates ( pearlised or metallised ) ,Pouches .
Various types of biscuit are available in market eg Plain glucose , Cracker , Digestive , Cream Sanwich ,Wafer , Enrobed and biscuits with Filling
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biscuit manufacturing process and equipments
