To mark, or crunch, this year’s National Biscuit Day, the residents and care team at Orford House, our residential care home in Coulsdon, have been talking about their favourite biscuits and answering the well-known conundrum – is a Jaffa Cake® a biscuit or cake?
“We wanted the residents to have a ‘cracking’ time and celebrate ‘all things biscuit’ this year’s National Biscuit Day,” said Mary Bradley, the Activity Coordinators at Orford House. “The residents love a good cuppa, having a chat with each other and taking part in our regular quizzes and reminiscing sessions, so I put together a fun little ‘spoof’ survey to find out, once and for all, their favourite biscuit, biscuits they loved and enjoyed over the years, and to answer the age-old biscuit mystery of whether or not a Jaffa Cake® is actually a biscuit or a cake.”
According to a recent national poll, the UK’s undisputed favourite biscuit is the well-loved Chocolate Digestive, followed by melt-in-your-mouth Shortbread. Taking third place is the retro Bourbon, the controversial Jaffa Cake® made into fourth spot and the classic Custard Cream came in fifth. “However, the residents had slightly different views,” added Michelle Kennett, the Registered Manager at the care home.
“To get the residents’ top three all-time favourite biscuits, we asked them what their absolute favourite biscuit was to enjoy with a cup of tea. The results were varied, but we managed to get our Gold, Silver and Bronze choices,” continued Michelle.
“Taking the top spot, with a 95% score was the much-loved Chocolate Digestive, closely followed by runner up, a traditional Custard Cream. There was a split decision for podium three with McVitie’s Digestives™, Pink Wafers, Shortbread and Ginger Nuts all tying for bronze.”
Muriel Bain, who made Orford House her home in September 2024 has a strict rule when it comes to ‘Dunking’. “I used to be an avid ‘Dunker’,” said Muriel. “I found a Shortbread was totally delicious if I dunked it for a little while – but no more, I’ve totally gone off dunking all together as I’ve had one too many ‘Dunking Disasters’. It’s now absolutely no dunking in my book.”
Resident Iris Flint, who moved to Orford House in December 2022 also has clear guidelines for dunking. “It’s fine to dunk a biscuit in a cup of coffee, but definitely not in a cup of tea,” continued Iris. “My other rule is that the only biscuit that can be dunked is a Rich Tea.”
Maureen White, who has lived at Orford House since March 2021 is a self-confessed ‘Total Dunker’. “I love to dunk Pink Wafter biscuits,” added Maureen. “The warm tea or coffee makes them lovely and soft.” Carol Middleton, who has been at Orford House since May this year, agrees with Maureen. “I do like dunking biscuits; it’s an old habit that I just can break.”
One question all the residents nearly all agreed on was the age-old enigma – is a Jaffa Cake® a biscuit or a cake? “It was nearly, but not quite, an undisputed and unanimous decision,” added Mary. “95% of the residents agreed that a Jaffa Cake® is just that, a cake and definitely not a biscuit, whilst 5% said it was actually a biscuit as you found them on the biscuit aisle in a supermarket and not in the Bakery or cake aisle.”
“As we were going through the fun survey, I was amazed by how much the residents knew about biscuits. They never cease to amaze me, I really do learn something new each day. I now know that UK’s oldest biscuit is the Aberffraw biscuit which originated in North Wales back in the 13th Century. Legend claims that a Welsh King was holding Court in Aberffraw when his Queen spotted a Scallop shell on the beach and asked to have a sweet treat baked in the exact same shape,” continued Mary.
“One resident told me that Shortbread is mentioned in historical Scottish texts as far back as the 12th Century, Ginger Nuts biscuits were first created and commercially produced in the UK in the mid-19th Century and that the Rich Tea biscuit has been around since 17th Century when Yorkshire bakers created them as a light snack for the wealthy – so I learned some new facts too,” added Michelle.
“The residents and care team had a ‘cracking’ time taking part in the spoof ‘Biccie’ poll and reminiscing about biscuits. I think we could say that they all had a ‘snappily’ good time,” concluded Mary.
Find out more about Orford House care home by calling 020 8660 2875 or emailing [email protected].