We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how the patterns on Custard Creams hold a secret meaning.
That took me by surprise because I thought it was just added for decorative interest, like the heart in Jammie Dodgers.
Well, turns out that not only was I wrong on the first count, but I’ve underestimated Jammie Dodgers too.
Apparently, there’s more to the iconic heart design than first meets the eye.
What do the hearts mean?
The biscuits, whose name was apparently inspired by BEANO’s ‘Roger the Dodger’ character in the popular comics, refer to a nursery rhyme too.
According to historian Lizzie Collingham in her book The Biscuit: The History of a Very British Indulgence, “With a heart-shaped hole in the centre through which a red jam filling could be glimpsed, it was intended to recall the nursery rhyme when the Knave of Hearts stole the tarts the Queen had baked, ‘all on a summer’s day.’”
The book adds that originally “the jam glowed red but was made with cheaper plums rather than raspberries.”
Now, at least some products are made with “raspberry flavoured apple jam” instead.
It makes sense ― apple jam tends to be smoother and a little more even, making sandwiching the biscuits over them easier.
“Around 70% of Jammie Dodgers are actually consumed by adults,” Burton’s site reads.
The biscuits aren’t simply shortcakes
Just as Biscoff has some roots in Speculoos, so the Jammie Dodger’s biscuit is similar to a Linzer biscuit.
According to the BBC, “the Linzer cookie is the extravagant Austrian Christmas version [of the biscuit], the dough rich and short with ground toasted hazelnuts.”
Both feature shortcake-like biccies sandwiching jam, with a hole (Linzers can use stars, circles, hearts, or whatever else you fancy) in its upper layer that shows a tempting glint of the spread beneath.
“In its wildest dreams, a jammy dodger could never aspire to the melting tenderness and celestial lightness of the Linzer cookie,” the BBC says.
That’s obviously subjective ― but there’s no denying the latter’s range of motifs (“bell, heart, Christmas tree, snowflake, angel, star…”) is far broader.
