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Your e-Mails

Lottie Clark	sponge fingers - friend or foe? - Biscuit or cake? - To be used in trifles or not? The word sponge implies cake yet I know that these fingers have a distinct crunch about them aswell as adding the word fingers to the title and so implying a minor snake like bisciut inspired munch then a rich, filling meal in itself cake. So Nicey I ask you to share your knowledge (failing that your opinion) as to wot these 'fingers' REALLY are?... Thanks. luv. Lottie. Avid bisciut eater yet worried at the increasing rate of popularity for herbal teas!!
	Nicey replies: Simple Lottie they are little stale cakes. They may be eaten in emergencies or used in trifles as you point out, although I favour the dedicated trifle sponge in this regard. The packs always suggest loads of other uses for them but then they would. I expect they would be good for making small edible log cabins. Don't worry about the Herbal tea thing, they all be back for proper tea once the novelty wears off.
Scott Schirmer	Hello, I'm a big fan of the Brit comedy, As Time Goes By, starring Judy Dench and Geoffrey Palmer, a BBC production shown in the USA. On the show, Lionel (Mr. Palmer) is always eating custard tarts. Thing is, he seems to be getting them out of a packet of sorts, not out of a bakery box. What's he eating? I can seem to find anything like it in Washington, DC, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for. Any ideas? Thanks, Scott Schirmer Washington, DC
	Nicey replies: Well thats a tricky one as I haven't seen the show. However a Custard tart isn't going to put up with too long in a pack so this is perhaps why our big mass produced bakers like Mr Kipling don't seem to make them. The best ones come direct from a bakery, or some of our big Supermarkets do their own brand ones where they can obviously control the shipping from bakery to store.
Biscuit Enthusiast Mandy Tim Tam vs Penguin Review	I saw the mail from Tom Alred and can, indeed, confirm that I have tried M&S extremely chocolatey mini bites. They are extremely chocolatey, in fact exactly as described on the plastic tub in which they are packaged. and take the form of a growth stunted mini roll, coming in varieties of orange and milk chocolate. Very rich, very sickly; but very delicious. I'm sure there are all sorts of activities to which they might lend themselves! :-) As for the totally chocolate covered Jaffa Cakes. I have never seen those, although they sound very good indeed. Btw, Nicey. I have now eaten about four Tim Tams and am completely smitten. Were I not due to get married in three weeks, and in dire need of fitting in a posh frock, I might investigate some other flavours. Alas, that will have to wait. :-)
	Nicey replies: Yes whilst we were at the Tim Tam launch Biscuit Enthusiast Mandy, valiantly volunteered to supervise the younger members of staff. For her bravery she received a pack of Double Coat Tim Tams which we liberated from Australia House.
Devon Oreo Review	I read your review of oreo's. I am pleased that you seem to understand america :). Statistically speaking, americans are fat and commercialized. We love our oreos almost as much as some "love" their heart attacks. Thanks for reviewing oreo's! they may be the essence of over-proccessed-commercial-american food, but they're really tasty, especially with milk. Thanks again, Devon (not the province... thats my name....) p.s. (i was kidding mentioning the province... you're not stupid)
	Nicey replies: Thanks for that. Actually Devon is a county, famous for dairy products, milk, cream, butter and so on. Cream teas are a feature of Devon's cuisine, consisting of scones spread with jam and clotted cream and a big pot of tea, epic!
A T Lewney	Dear nicey, i like to cook, and i like to bake, biscuits and cakes (tho really im crap at anything thats not sponge, but thats ok, cause i dont like fruity cake anyway much) but ive never come accross xanthan gum, can i ask you or her or whoever, what it is and can i get it in my local londis/spar/moronisons etc? and whats it used for other than the recipe provided, it all sounds very exotic cheers Al
	Nicey replies: Good question. Stuff beginning with X is rocket science by definition. I have never seen Xanthan gum for sale, but I have seen it in stuff, Sunny Delight for instance as you might expect contains it (I once read the ingredients of Sunny Delight to try and figure out if it was indeed as sinister as it appears to be). Whether or not they simply added it because it begins with X and they were working through the alphabet in some kind of sick ingredient stunt or maybe it is to do with 'mouth feel' which I think is the term for industrial chemists would use when building vats of Sunny Delight. Maybe it is part of the emulsification of the vegetable oil in the solution of sugar, and chemicals which is central to the production of Sunny Delight. Perhaps it is a by product of the production of Sunny Delight, which spontaneously gives rise to stuff that begins with X, and Sunny Delight itself is presumably a by product of detergent manufacturing. You could try Holland and Barrett.
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