Custard cream
A custard cream is a type of sandwich biscuit popular in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland filled with a creamy, custard-flavoured centre. Traditionally, the filling was buttercream but nowadays cheaper fats have replaced butter in mass-produced biscuits. The filling tastes of vanilla and as such is more akin to the taste of custard made with custard powder than egg custard. It is believed that the custard cream biscuit originated in Britain in 1908. They usually have an elaborate baroque design stamped onto them, originating in the Victorian era and representing ferns. They are now predominately produced at the McVitie's factory in Carlisle.
Some British and Irish supermarkets produce own brand versions, with variations including lemon, orange, chocolate, strawberry, coffee and coconut flavours. There is a digestive cream version available, in which the biscuit is replaced with a digestive biscuit. In a 2007 poll of 7,000 Britons, 9 out of 10 voted custard creams to be their favourite biscuit. In 2009 it was ranked the eighth most popular biscuit in the UK to dunk into tea.
