Well Butter My Biscuit Trivia Quiz

Answer: Garibaldi

The biscuits were first made in London, in 1861, by a company named Peek Freans which became part of United Biscuits in the UK. The name comes from the Italian leader Giuseppe Garibaldi, who visited England in 1854.

The top layer of the biscuit is glazed and the appearance of the squashed currants in the middle means there are various nicknames relating to flies, such as squashed fly biscuits and dead fly biscuits. Other countries have their own versions and names.

Answer: Ginger nuts

Ginger nuts can be risky to your teeth as some of them are very hard on the outside, although the middle should be slightly chewier. The name is historic as biscuits were called nuts by bakers originally - this part of name is also used for doughnuts. They can also be called ginger snaps or just ginger biscuits.

As you'd expect, the main flavouring is ginger, with other spices, such as cinnamon, sometimes added. The recipe usually includes syrup or molasses, along with flour, sugar and butter.

Answer: Custard cream

Custard creams are another type of sandwich biscuit, with a buttercream filling. Vanilla can be added to both the biscuit dough and the filling, often by using the short cut of custard powder.

Commercially produced versions are rectangular in shape with an embossed pattern resembling ferns on the biscuits and the name 'custard cream' in the middle of the biscuit. The filling used in mass produced biscuits is unlikely to contain butter. Recipes for homemade versions are readily available and are likely to taste better.

Answer: Macaron

These French delicacies are on the borderline between biscuits and cakes, but they are crunchy so describing them as biscuits seems reasonable. They are made from ground almond nuts, granulated sugar, icing sugar and a meringue made from egg whites. Food dye can be added before cooking.

The resulting mixture is piped into rounds on baking parchment before being baked. The cooked macarons are sandwiched together with a cream filling.

Answer: Bourbon

Another of the biscuits created by Peek Freans, these biscuits date from the 1910s although they weren't called Bourbons until the 1930s. The biscuit dough is flavoured with dark chocolate, or cocoa, and each part of the 'sandwich' is rectangular in shape. The biscuit is finished with a chocolate buttercream filling.

There are various recipes on the internet for making these at home, if your baking skills are up to it.

Answer: Wafers

Wafers are made from a thin dough, which is cooked quickly to create a thin, crumbly biscuit. These are usually layered with buttercream to form a rectangular shape. They can be left a natural shade of light brown, or coloured - pink is the most common version.

Wafer biscuits may have been made in Ancient Egypt, although most sources give Mediaeval Europe as being the origin of the wafers we still see in the twenty-first century.

Answer: Fingers

Often known by the name of their original manufacturer, Cadbury's, these biscuits date from 1897. They are a plain biscuit middle covered with Dairy Milk chocolate, another Cadbury's product. The original fingers didn't look quite like the ones we're used to, but the version still available dates from 1951.

Cadbury fingers have been created in other flavours, such as orange or caramel, or with coatings of white chocolate. They are widely distributed around the world.

Answer: Fig roll

Figs rolled in pastry or biscuit dough aren't new, with the Ancient Egyptians having created something very similar to our fig rolls. Mass production, though, began much later, in the 1890s. In the USA, they are more often known as Fig Newtons.

In the UK, Jacob's and McVitie's are among the leading brand names, and most supermarkets offer them under their own branding.

Answer: Iced gems

These biscuits really are miniature versions - you can't even dunk them without risking burning your fingers. They consist of a very small, round biscuit with a piped star or swirl of icing sugar on the top.

According to my research, they originated in Reading, made by Huntley and Palmer. They date from the 1850s, when they were just plain biscuits with the icing being an addition in the 1910s. The company merged with Peek Freans in 1921 but re-established itself as an independent company in 2006. The twenty-first century Iced Gems are mainly made by McVitie's.

Answer: Shortbread

Shortbread is one of the simplest biscuits to make, although that doesn't mean it's not delicious. The combination of just these three ingredients creates a crumbly biscuit, because of the high fat level involved.

Shortbread can be bought in fingers - regular rectangular shapes or as round biscuits. The other main option is to form the biscuit dough into a large circular shape which is then cut into segments. This version is often called 'petticoat tails'.