Bolands Kimberley Biscuits, 300g
Do not dunk this one. Nothing in a Kimberley snaps, so a hot mug simply takes the whole thing off you; it belongs on the saucer beside a strong milky cup instead. Two soft spiced rounds with marshmallow between them and fine sugar on the outside, sweet without apology, and the warm spice in the rounds is what stops it being sugar alone. The people who want it ask for it by name and will not take a substitute.
Bolands Kimberley Biscuits, in brief.
Bolands Kimberley Biscuits is a 300g pack of the soft Irish marshmallow sandwich biscuit, two warmly spiced rounds with a yielding centre and a sugared outside, picked into the Teas.co.uk selection as the tea-table biscuit for people who have been looking for it.
The one rule that matters: do not dunk it. There is no crisp structure to hold the shape and the marshmallow gives way first. Brew the tea strong, take milk, skip the sugar.
Bolands Kimberley Biscuits is a 300g pack of a biscuit that breaks the main rule of the category: it is soft. A Kimberley is a marshmallow sandwich, two yielding, warmly spiced biscuit rounds with a soft centre between them and a sugared finish on the outside, and the whole construction is built to give rather than to snap. In an aisle where almost everything is engineered to be crisp and to survive a hot mug, that makes it an outlier, and it is the reason people who grew up with it are so specific about it.
Per the published ingredient list the spice in the biscuit rounds is ground ginger, and the mallow is set with pork gelatine.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
It is best known as an Irish tea-table biscuit, one of a small group of names that turn up together in the same households and get talked about as a set rather than individually. What the format actually does is separate the flavour from the texture. The spice lives in the biscuit rounds, the sweetness lives in the marshmallow, and because neither is crisp, the whole thing arrives as one soft mouthful rather than as layers you work through.
The Story Behind The Pack
Bolands is a long-standing Irish biscuit name, and Kimberley is the one people ask for by name. It belongs to a particular kind of shopping: the biscuit somebody brings back in a suitcase, or asks a relative to post, because the supermarket at home does not carry it. That is not nostalgia marketing, it is just how regional biscuits work, and it is the reason a soft marshmallow sandwich has survived in an aisle otherwise dominated by crisp formats with long shelf lives.
The exact spice mix in the biscuit rounds is a recipe question and it belongs to the ingredient panel rather than to us, so read the current pack if you want the specifics. What we will say is that the spice is doing structural work in the flavour, not decoration. Take it out and a marshmallow sandwich collapses into plain sugar; leave it in and there is something warm running underneath the sweetness that gives the biscuit a shape.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our Commitment To The Planet
- The pack that arrives is the current UK retail pack rather than an import made to a different recipe.
- A soft biscuit has a shorter useful life than a crisp one once the pack is opened, so 300g is about the largest size that makes sense. Buying bigger would mean throwing some away.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Bolands Kimberley Biscuits, 300g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Bolands
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
Everything about serving a Kimberley follows from the fact that it is soft. Do not dunk it: there is no crisp structure to hold the shape and the marshmallow goes first, which means the biscuit lands in the bottom of the mug within a second. What it needs instead is a cup with enough strength to stand up to a very sweet mouthful, drunk alongside rather than into. A strong Irish-style black tea is the obvious and correct answer, and it is worth brewing properly rather than reaching for whatever is in the pot.
The Tea Table Serve
The Warm Plate
Made with this tea
The Tea Table Serve
How to make The Tea Table Serve with Bolands Kimberley Biscuits.
- 2 Kimberley biscuits
- 1 bag strong black tea
- 200ml water at a full boil
- A proper splash of milk
- Brew one bag in 200ml straight off the boil for four to five minutes. Strength is not optional here.
- Add a proper splash of milk and no sugar. The biscuit has supplied all of it.
- Serve two biscuits on a plate beside the cup.
- Do not dunk. The marshmallow gives way before the rounds do and the whole thing lands in the mug.
What you'll end up with: The pairing this biscuit grew up with, done at the strength it actually needs.
The Ten Second Warm Plate
How to make The Ten Second Warm Plate with Bolands Kimberley Biscuits.
- 4 Kimberley biscuits
- A plate warmed near the kettle
- A pot of strong black tea
- Warm a plate gently, near the kettle or under hot water and dried. Warm, not hot.
- Lay the biscuits on it for about ten seconds while you pour the tea.
- Serve immediately, while the spice is lifted and the centre is soft but not running.
- Never use a microwave. Marshmallow goes from soft to liquid faster than you expect.
What you'll end up with: The best version of this biscuit, for ten seconds of effort that almost nobody spends.
Toasted Kimberley Sandwich
How to make Toasted Kimberley Sandwich with Bolands Kimberley Biscuits.
- 4 Kimberley biscuits
- 2 squares dark chocolate
- A dry frying pan
- Warm a dry pan over a low heat. Low, or the sugar coating burns before the centre softens.
- Lay a square of dark chocolate on one biscuit and press a second on top.
- Toast for 30 seconds a side, pressing very lightly, until the chocolate has just melted.
- Rest for a minute before eating; the centre will be hotter than it looks.
What you'll end up with: A soft spiced s'more with the dark chocolate cutting the sugar, which the sweetness badly needs.
Spiced Marshmallow Ice Cream Layer
How to make Spiced Marshmallow Ice Cream Layer with Bolands Kimberley Biscuits.
- 6 Kimberley biscuits
- 1 litre vanilla ice cream, softened
- A pinch of flaky salt
- Tear the biscuits into pieces by hand. They will not crush to a crumb and you do not want them to.
- Soften a litre of vanilla ice cream for ten minutes until it will fold.
- Fold the pieces through with a pinch of flaky salt and pack it back into the tub.
- Freeze for four hours. The pieces stay soft rather than going hard, which is the point.
What you'll end up with: Soft spiced pockets through vanilla, where a crisp biscuit would have gone to shards.
The Flask And Two Biscuits
How to make The Flask And Two Biscuits with Bolands Kimberley Biscuits.
- 4 Kimberley biscuits
- 4 bags strong black tea
- 800ml water at a full boil
- A rigid tin or box for the biscuits
- Brew 4 bags in 800ml for five minutes, take them out, add milk and fill a warmed flask.
- Pack the biscuits in a rigid tin rather than a bag. A soft biscuit crushes in a coat pocket.
- Brew it stronger than you would at home, because flask tea always reads weaker by the time you drink it.
- Two biscuits each, eaten beside the cup rather than dunked.
What you'll end up with: The tea table moved outdoors, with the biscuits arriving in one piece for once.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Typical values per 100g, as published | Per 100g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 436 kcal |
| Fat | 14.5g |
| of which saturates | 5.7g |
| Carbohydrate | 68.4g |
| of which sugars | 22.4g |
| Fibre | 2.8g |
| Protein | 6.9g |
| Salt | 1.1g |
Ingredients, as published for this product: Wheat Flour, Mallow (25%) [Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Gelling Agent (Gelatine), Natural Flavouring], Vegetable Oil, Sugar, Inverted Sugar Syrup, Fructose, Molasses, Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate), Ground Ginger, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Salt.
Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.
Ingredients and allergens. Per the published ingredient list it contains wheat (gluten) and soya, and the mallow is set with pork gelatine, so it is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans; the pack's may-contain warning includes milk. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Soft spiced biscuit rounds | two per biscuit | The structure, such as it is, and all of the flavour. The warm spice note is what stops a marshmallow sandwich tasting only of sugar. |
| Marshmallow centre | the filling | The sweetness and the texture. It is also the component that gives way first, which is why a Kimberley cannot be dunked. |
| Sugared finish | the outside | A fine sugar coating on the outer surface, which is the first thing the palate meets and sets the sweetness level of the bite. |
Pack: Bolands Kimberley Biscuits, 300g; soft spiced marshmallow sandwich biscuits with a sugared finish. Best before the date printed on the pack, and best finished sooner than a crisp biscuit once opened.
If the vegetarian question is the reason you are buying, the pack is the version to trust.
Sourcing & blend. Bolands Kimberley Biscuits, 300g is made by Bolands, a long-standing Irish biscuit name, and Kimberley is the one people ask for by name. It belongs to a particular kind of shopping: the biscuit somebody brings back in a suitcase or asks a relative to post, because the supermarket at home does not carry it. That is not nostalgia marketing, it is how regional biscuits work, and it is the reason a soft marshmallow sandwich has survived in an aisle otherwise dominated by crisp formats with long shelf lives. The pack you receive is the current UK retail pack rather than an import made to a different recipe.
What is in Bolands Kimberley Biscuits, 300g, and what is not:
- In: two soft spiced biscuit rounds, a marshmallow centre and a sugared outside, 300g to the pack.
- Not a dunking biscuit: there is no crisp structure to hold the shape and the marshmallow gives way first. That is a construction fact rather than a preference.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Bolands Kimberley Biscuits, 300g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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