Soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside, these biscuits come cookies taste beautifully zesty. The sweet but zingy white chocolate drizzle makes a lovely contrast to these old-fashioned jumbles.
These jumbles with a white chocolate lemon drizzle came about serendipitously. I often borrow cookbooks from my local library; it’s a great way to properly peruse new (or old) titles without having to buy them. I have limited space in the house and really need to justify buying new books. Sometimes, of course, I just can’t help myself.
Paul Hollywood’s British Baking was a recent book that made its way onto my bedside table, courtesy of Liskeard library.
To my great joy, one of the recipes in the book was for jumbles, a biscuit which according to Paul was a great favourite of Richard III. It’s because of this that they’re sometimes called Bosworth jumbles.
I’ve long wondered about these biscuits. I first read about them in What Katy Did at School, oh so many years ago. I don’t know if New England jumbles are the same as our Bosworth ones, but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Spanish Citrus
It just so happened tha 3p Fruits recently sent me a large box of Spanish citrus. What a joy to have such a cheery and fragrant bundle in the house: nine kilos of pink grapefruit, large juicy oranges and bright yellow zesty lemons. And all of them are organic. If I’m using the zest or peel in any way, I like my citrus to be organic. That way, you can guarantee that the skins are unwaxed and contain no nasty chemicals.
The box arrived with the fruit in perfect condition and also included a jar of honey and some blanched almonds which I’d requested. More of these in my next post.
The grapefruit were really juicy with a mix of sweet aromatic citrus and bitter undertones. I made this grapefruit and honey almond cake with some of them.
As for the oranges, they were sweet, both in taste and scent, but had enough sharpness to give a good flavour. The lemons were also particularly juicy. I passed a few on to friends and family who were delighted with them.
You can buy fruit, vegetables, olive oil, almonds and a number of other products from 3pFruits and they will deliver from their farm in Spain in just a few days.
As well as these lemon cookies, I’ve also made lemon curd and Twelfth Night lemon marzipan cakes.
Old-Fashioned British Jumbles
Paul suggests drizzling lemon icing over the jumbles. I decided to make a lemony white chocolate to drizzle over mine instead. I also upped the quantities a little as I thought ten, just weren’t quite enough. They were destined for CTs mother after all.
The biscuits are deliciously zesty and combine well with the sharp but creamy icing. The lemon and white chocolate combination is a revelation and I shall be using this again and again. Freshly ground almonds make such a difference. They give flavour as well as texture, with a slight crunch from the bits that don’t quite get ground up.
I’m very happy with my jumbles and they sort of taste like I imagined they might. Perhaps if Richard had been fortified with jumbles that morning, the Battle of Bosworth might have turned out differently.
Do look out for the rather special citrus recipe I shall be posting on Valentine’s Day.
Other Fun Biscuit Recipes You Might Like
- Almond Easter thumbprint cookies
- Christmas butter biscuits
- Chocolate cookies with fresh mint
- Flower cookies
- Zebra biscuits
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these lemon jumbles, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more biscuit recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.
Choclette x
Lemon Jumbles. PIN IT.
Jumbles with White Chocolate Lemon Drizzle
Jumbles with a White Chocolate Lemon Drizzle
Ingredients
- 60 g wholemeal spelt flour
- 60 g white spelt flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 70 g golden caster sugar (I used cardamom sugar)
- 30 g freshly ground almonds
- 1 organic lemon.
- 30 g unsalted butter – fridge cold
- 40 ml milk
White Chocolate Drizzle
- 25 g white chocolate (I used Green & Black's)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Place the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
- Grate in zest from the lemon.
- Cut butter into pieces and rub it into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add enough milk to form into a soft dough.
- Cover the dough and leave in the fridge or other cold place to firm up for an hour.
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll each one into a stick shape just under a cm thick.
- Form into figures of eight and place on a baking tray.
- Bake for 12 minutes at 180℃ (160° fan, 350℉, Gas 4) until lightly golden, then place on wire rack to cool.
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over hot water with 1 tbsp lemon juice.
- Remove from the heat and stir until smooth.
- Drizzle over the jumbles.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
Loved ones is the theme for this month’s Biscuit Barrel. Well I made these delicious citrus biscuits for CT’s mother for a recent visit. As it happened a dear friend and CT polished most of them off. Either way, I made them with love for loved ones. This challenge is hosted by Alexandra of The Lass in the Apron on behalf of Laura of I’d Much Rather Bake Than ….
In a similar vein of making something for loved ones, I am entering these into Treat Petite with The Baking Explorer and CakeyBoi where Love is in the Air.
As jumbles was the first recipe I bookmarked from Paul’s book British Baking and the only one I got around to making, I’m sending it off to Jac over at Tinned Tomatoes for Bookmarked Recipes.
NB October 2016 – If you like, you can tie these Bosworth jumbles into a knot as they were on the recent Tudor episode of The Great British Bake Off. However, a figure of eight is a lot simpler to achieve.
Thanks to 3p Fruits for the citrus and almonds. I was not required to write a positive review and as always, all opinions are my own. Thanks also to my readers for supporting brands I work with helps keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.
Laura Denman says
Oh how lovely. I adore the shape of these and would no doubt eat more than my fair share. Thanks for entering them into the biscuit barrel!
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Laura – I didn’t get a chance to eat more than my fair share, which is probably just as well 😉
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I’ve just popped back to say thanks for entering them into Bookmarked Recipes.
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Jac
Karen S Booth says
I LOVE jumbles and remember making them with my grandmother! These look extremely tempting with their citrus flavours. I love reading borrowed books from the library, it’s the excitement of a new book that you have to return, so you look it it longer I think. Karen
Choclette Blogger says
I remember you doing a jumbles recipe on your blog some time ago Karen and I meant to go back and check it before I made these, but I didn’t manage it. Will try to take a look now. And yes, absolutely true what you say about library book.
Kat BakingExplorer says
These look so much fun and citrus flavours are always so tasty! Thanks for entering them into Treat Petite!
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Kat. I love the contrast between the sweet and sour.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I’ve never tried these before, but I am all in favour of anything that is lemon flavoured. I think when you borrow cookbooks you actually spend more time with them. Sometimes when you buy them, you think you have ages to read them and put them aside
Choclette Blogger says
That’s very true Jac and it’s also good to support libraries 🙂
belleau kitchen says
they look so good… ever since seeing them on Facebook i’ve wanted to know what they are. I love them! Never heard of them but they look great don’t they and all that glorious fresh zest and juice too… also quite fun to make with their figure of eight style. Gorgeous!
Choclette Blogger says
I think traditionally they are meant to be tied in knots, but I reckoned a figure of eight was sort of a knot!
Kate Glutenfreealchemist says
We made jumbles (gluten free of course) for a class of 30 from an original Tudor recipe last term (home work!). It involved shaping the dough and then dropping into boiling water for a few minutes and then baking after that! They were cinnamon and ginger spiced and a bit chewy…… but the kids loved them! I have some photos somewhere….. maybe I should post them?!
Choclette Blogger says
Oh yes do Kate, that would be fascinating. Dropping them in boiling water sounds interesting – a bit like bagels? Look forward to seeing more.
Katie @ Recipe for Perfection says
These look lovely. I adore citrus flavors in sweets, so this sounds like a winner to me!
Choclette Blogger says
Yes, something to do with sweet and sharp together I reckon Katie – makes for an interesting combination.
Charlene F says
Mmmmm yes please, I so desperately want 🙂 x
Choclette Blogger says
Oh, go on them Charlene 😉
Deena Kakaya says
White chocolate and lemon drizzle…you really do have the best ideas for chocolate xx
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Deena – it’s a great discovery, the sharpness of the lemon juice is a great foil for the sweet creaminess of the white chocolate.
Angie Schneider says
Didn’t know they were called jumbles at all…they look so delicious!
Choclette Blogger says
It’s a great name Angie and a rather nice biscuit too.
Johanna GGG says
I have a recipe for jumbles in my folder of magazine clippings from my childhood – though I have a feeling they were called honey jumbles – always wanted to make them – thought they were quite bready but yours look more biscuity and short. Would love to taste them and imagine myself at the court of Richard III or maybe just at school with Katy
Choclette Blogger says
Oh yes, honey sounds good and of course that’s what would have been used in Richard III’s day. These were definitely biscuits, but were chewy rather than crisp.
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com says
Mmm … lovely with a nice cuppa tea! I will have to try these soon, I have a lot of lemons on hand.
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Jean. Lemons are wonderful things 🙂
Kumba Dauda says
Omg, these look absolutely delicious! I will have to try out this recipe
xx
Choclette Blogger says
Do let me know what you think if you do make them.
Laura Ludlow says
MMMMM those made my mouth water. I might have to give them a go! Love the idea of using the library for cook books!
Choclette Blogger says
Thanks Laura. Our library is really good for cookbooks and it’s a good way of dealing with any space issues too.