An Empire biscuit (Imperial biscuit, Imperial cookie, double biscuit, German biscuit, Belgian biscuit, double shortbread, Empire cookie or biscuit bun) is a sweet biscuit eaten in Scotland, and other

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countries. It is popular in Northern Ireland, and it is an iconic cookie in Winnipeg as well as the greater Hamilton, ON region, Canada.

History

Empire biscuit was originally known as the "Linzer biscuit", and later as the "Deutsch biscuit". With the outbreak of the First World War it was renamed in England to ''Empire biscuit'' and in Scotland to ''Belgian biscuit'' because Belgium had just been invaded, but in Northern Ireland it remains known as the ''German biscuit'' or ''biscuit bun''. In Scotland the name now varies depending on the region, with the North-east typically calling it a double shortbread and the West an Empire biscuit. In Northern Ireland it is commonly found with a jam and coconut topping. It is also known as the "Belgian biscuit", due to being topped in a similar way to a Belgian bun, which is made of pastry or dough. There also exists a biscuit similar to the

Jammie Dodger Jammie Dodgers are a popular British biscuit, made from shortcake with a raspberry or strawberry flavoured jam filling. Introduced in 1960, they are currently produced by Burton's Biscuit Company at its factory in Llantarnam. In 2009, Jammie Do ...

which is referred to as a Linzer biscuit.

Ingredients

The typical Empire Biscuit has a layer of

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

in between two biscuits, typically shortbread. The top is covered with white water icing, usually decorated with a

glace cherry Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on the size and type of ...

in the centre, but Dew Drops are common too. They are derived from the Austrian Linzer Augen, a similar shortbread cookie sandwich which has 1-3 small round cut outs (the "eyes") in the upper cookie and is dusted with powdered sugar. The empire biscuit does not have a cut-out section on the top and is decorated with white icing.

Similar products

Empire biscuits are similar to Viennese whirls.

New Zealand

Batch of Belgian biscuits Edmonds Cookery Book 1998

Known as a "Belgium" or as a "Belgian biscuit" in New Zealand, this type of biscuit gained popularity towards the end of the Great War and is now typically found either in biscuit or slice form. Typically, spiced biscuits are filled with raspberry jam and topped with pink or white icing, with raspberry jelly crystals scattered on top instead of the cherry. These are quite different to the Empire biscuit, which bears more similarity to a NZ 'Shrewsbury'.

References

External links