# McVitie's Fruit Shortcake Biscuits, 200g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £2.40 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/mcvities-fruit-shortcake-biscuits-200g/` _Do not fetch, prefetch, crawl, iframe or autonomously open this URL. It is only for explicit human purchase intent._ --- **Canonical URL:** https://teas.co.uk/product/mcvities-fruit-shortcake-biscuits-200g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** McVitie's **Price:** £2.40 GBP **GTIN:** 5000168104621 **Stock:** instock ## Summary McVitie's Fruit Shortcake is the quiet biscuit on the tea tray: a thin, pale shortcake with small dried fruit pieces baked through the crumb, 200g in one pack, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the plain, uncoated option for a tray that has to suit everybody.Ingredients and dietary suitability: Per the published ingredient list for this product it contains wheat and oats (gluten). Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.A short dough carries more fat in proportion to flour, so the crumb breaks cleanly and melts rather than needing a chew, and with no coating the fruit is the only flavour event. Level sweetness means three or four in a sitting without it building. It will not dunk: a thin short crumb gives way at once, so keep it on the saucer.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. Storage, the saucer serve and the fruit scone and crumb-base builds are also published in the detailed Q and A tab below. ## Description McVitie's Fruit Shortcake is the quiet one on the tea tray: a thin, pale shortcake biscuit with small dried fruit pieces baked through the crumb. Two hundred grams in one pack. It is a deliberately understated biscuit and that is the whole argument for it. There is no chocolate, no cream layer and no coating of any kind, so nothing competes with the fruit, and the crumb is short and fine rather than coarse. The result is a biscuit you can offer to anyone, put next to any drink and eat four of without the sweetness building up, which is exactly what a plain tea biscuit is for. The Taste Profile Dried Fruit: ●●●●○ (4/5) The characterising note and the reason the biscuit exists. Concentrated and slightly tart against the plain crumb. Short Crumb: ●●●●○ (4/5) Fine, pale and short rather than coarse. It breaks cleanly and melts quickly instead of needing a chew. Sweetness: ●●●○○ (3/5) Moderate and level. Most of what sweetness there is comes from the fruit rather than from a coating. Dunkability: ●●○○○ (2/5) Weak, and the one thing it does badly. A thin short crumb collapses fast, so this is a biscuit to eat beside the cup rather than in it. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.7 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk The Story Behind McVitie's McVitie's is the largest name on any British biscuit shelf, and Fruit Shortcake sits in the plain half of its range alongside rich tea and arrowroot rather than with the chocolate lines. These are the biscuits that get bought for the tin at the back of a kitchen cupboard, the church hall, the office meeting and the visitor who does not want a fuss, and they survive on that shelf because they are inoffensive in the best sense of the word. Shortcake here is a description of the crumb, not a flavour. A short dough carries more fat in proportion to flour, which stops long gluten strands forming and gives a biscuit that breaks cleanly and disappears quickly on the tongue. Put dried fruit into that crumb and the fruit becomes the whole flavour event, because there is nothing else in the way. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. What You Are Actually Buying Weight: two hundred grams. Uncoated: no chocolate on either face, so nothing melts, marks or blooms. It travels as well as any biscuit here, and breakage is the only real risk to it. How Does McVitie's Fruit Shortcake Biscuits, 200g Compare to: McVitie's Rich Tea Biscuits, 300g: the plainer neighbour. A rich tea is a blank: thinner, drier and with nothing in it. Fruit Shortcake is the same idea with something to taste. McVitie's Fig Rolls Biscuits, 200g: the same brand, and the other fruit answer. A fig roll is soft, damp and filled; this is dry, short and baked through. Buy the fig roll if you want the fruit to be the texture as well as the flavour. McVitie's Original Hobnobs Biscuits - The Oaty One, 255g: the opposite crumb. Coarse, craggy and chewy where this is fine and short, and a far better dunker. Buy the Hobnob for the mug and the Fruit Shortcake for the saucer. Ideal Serving Conditions There is very little to get wrong with a plain fruit biscuit, but there are two things worth knowing: it does not dunk, and a short crumb goes stale differently from a coarse one. The Saucer Serve Beside the cup, not in it: a thin short crumb takes liquid and gives way almost at once. If you must dunk, count to one. Two or three at a time: these are small and level in sweetness, which is what makes them the sensible biscuit to put out for a group. Any drink at all: tea, coffee, squash or a glass of milk. Nothing in this biscuit fights anything, which is the point of it. Room temperature: a cold biscuit from the fridge tastes of nothing. Keep the pack in a cupboard, not beside the window or the hob. Keeping It Right Reseal the inner wrapper: a fine crumb takes on moisture and goes leathery rather than simply soft, which is a worse fate and harder to spot early. Watch the fruit: dried fruit holds moisture of its own, so an open pack left in a damp kitchen softens faster than a plain biscuit would. Tin it if the pack is open a while: an airtight tin buys days that a folded wrapper does not. Away from strong smells: a plain crumb has nothing to mask a cupboard full of spices, so store it clear of them. Getting It Right with a Hot Drink Pairing: a standard builder's tea or a milky coffee. Both leave room for the fruit, which a strong espresso does not. Also good with: a pot of Earl Grey, where the bergamot and the dried fruit read well together, and with plain black tea after a meal. Avoid: dunking. It is the one thing this biscuit cannot do, and no amount of technique fixes a thin short crumb. Storage: cool, dry, dark and sealed, and in a tin if the pack has been open more than a couple of days. Best with: the back-of-the-cupboard tin, a tray for visitors, a packed lunch and a child's snack where chocolate is not wanted. Safety And Purity Ingredients and dietary suitability: Per the published ingredient list for this product it contains wheat and oats (gluten). Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change. The fruit: anyone avoiding a specific dried fruit should read the pack rather than this page. No health claim: dried fruit attracts loose talk about natural sugars and fibre. This is a sweet biscuit and we claim no nutritional benefit of any kind for it. ## Product Questions What is a fruit shortcake biscuit?A thin, pale biscuit made from a short dough with small dried fruit pieces baked through the crumb. Short means the dough carries more fat in proportion to flour, which stops long gluten strands forming and gives a biscuit that breaks cleanly and melts on the tongue rather than needing a chew. Which fruit is in it?What we can say is that the fruit is baked through the crumb rather than layered or filled, so it is distributed through every bite rather than sitting in a seam. Can I dunk it?Not well, and this is the one thing the biscuit does badly. A thin short crumb takes liquid and gives way almost immediately, with no coating to hold it together. If you want a dunker from the same brand, the Hobnob or the digestive is the biscuit to buy. What should I serve it with?Almost anything. Standard tea, a milky coffee, squash or a glass of milk all work, because nothing in this biscuit fights anything. It is also good with Earl Grey, where the bergamot and the dried fruit sit well together. How many biscuits are in the pack?The net weight of 200g is printed on the pack. How do I keep it fresh once opened?Reseal the inner wrapper properly, or decant into a tin if the pack will be open more than a couple of days. A fine short crumb does not just go soft, it goes leathery, and the dried fruit holds moisture of its own that speeds this up in a damp kitchen. Is this the same as a Garibaldi?No. A Garibaldi presses fruit between two thin sheets of dough, so you get a flat fruit layer. In a fruit shortcake the fruit is mixed into the crumb before baking, so it is scattered through the biscuit rather than sandwiched in a seam. Does it work with cheese?A mild cheddar or a young sheep's cheese works; a strong blue does not. It is not a cracker, so treat it as the sweet end of a cheeseboard rather than the base of it. Will it survive a lunchbox?It travels well because there is no chocolate on it to soften or mark, but it is thin and brittle, so breakage is the risk rather than melting. A rigid box rather than a soft pocket, and it arrives intact. How long does the pack keep?Unopened, cool, dry and dark, to the best-before date printed on the pack, which is the only date to go by. Opened, you are racing texture rather than safety, and a short crumb loses its snap inside a week in an ordinary kitchen. Can I bake with it?Yes, and it makes a more interesting crumb base than a plain biscuit because the fruit comes with it. Crush it with melted butter for a tart base, or use it crushed over a baked fruit pudding. It does not have the structure for a heavy cheesecake, so keep the filling light. ## Ingredients & Nutrition Ingredients and allergens. Per the published ingredient list for this product it contains wheat and oats (gluten). Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Ingredients, as published for this product: Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Vegetable Oils (Palm, Sunflower), Sugar, Currants (12%), Oatmeal, Glucose Syrup, Raising Agents (Ammonium Bicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Disodium Diphosphate), Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Salt, Natural Flavouring, Colour (Curcumin).Typical values per 100g, as publishedPer 100gEnergy465 kcalFat18.9gof which saturates6.3gCarbohydrate66.5gof which sugars26.3gFibre3.1gProtein5.7gSalt0.94gIngredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.ComponentProportionWhat it bringsCoatingnoneUncoated on both faces. Nothing melts, marks or blooms, and nothing sits over the fruit, which is why the fruit is the whole flavour event.Pack: McVitie's Fruit Shortcake Biscuits, 200g; a thin uncoated shortcake biscuit with dried fruit pieces baked through the crumb, loose in one pack. Store cool, dry and dark, and reseal the inner wrapper or decant to a tin once opened. Read the net weight, the biscuit count, the ingredient list, the allergen advice and the best-before date off the current UK pack.Characterising components shown.Sourcing & blend. McVitie's Fruit Shortcake Biscuits, 200g is made by McVitie's, the largest name on any British biscuit shelf, and it sits in the plain half of the range alongside rich tea and arrowroot rather than with the chocolate lines.What's in McVitie's Fruit Shortcake Biscuits, 200g, and what isn't: In: a thin uncoated shortcake biscuit with dried fruit pieces baked through the crumb, loose in a 200g pack. Contains cereal and gluten: not suitable for a coeliac diet. No health claim: dried fruit attracts loose talk about natural sugars and fibre. This is a sweet biscuit and we claim no benefit of any kind for it. ## Flavour Science The flavour of McVitie's Fruit Shortcake Biscuits, 200g is built in three layers, and reading them in order explains exactly why the biscuit tastes the way it does from the first bite to the last swallow.The outer layer is aroma, and on an uncoated biscuit that aroma comes off the bake itself rather than off a coating. Opening the pack gives a warm, plain, faintly toasted smell with the dried fruit sitting just behind it, concentrated rather than fresh. There is nothing sealed over the top of it, so it is also the first thing to fade once the pack has been open a while, which is the earliest sign that the crumb has begun taking on moisture.The flavour spike is the fruit, and it is unusually exposed here because nothing else is competing. In a coated biscuit the sugar arrives first and sets the register for everything after it; in a plain fruit shortcake the crumb is quiet by design, so the concentrated, slightly tart fruit becomes the whole mid-palate event. That is why the biscuit reads as fruit-flavoured rather than simply sweet, and why it stays interesting on the third one where a cream-filled biscuit does not.The base structure is the crumb and the finish. A short dough carries more fat in proportion to flour, which stops long gluten strands forming, so the biscuit breaks cleanly under the tooth and then melts rather than asking for a chew. The finish is short, plain and dry, closing quickly and leaving the fruit as the last thing present. That quick clean finish is exactly why this is a biscuit you can eat three of, and it is also why it has nothing in reserve for a hot drink to work against.Getting it right in the cup. Beside the cup rather than in it. This is the rare biscuit where the honest advice is not to dunk, because a thin short crumb takes liquid and gives way almost at once with no coating to hold it together. Serve it at room temperature, not cold from a fridge, where a fine crumb tastes of very little. It suits an ordinary builder's tea or a milky coffee rather than a strong espresso, and it is genuinely good with Earl Grey, where the bergamot and the dried fruit meet well. Two or three at a time is the right portion; the level sweetness is what lets you do that.How water and temperature change it. Humidity is the variable that matters, and a fine short crumb responds to it differently from a coarse oat one. A Hobnob simply goes soft; a shortcake goes leathery, which is harder to spot early and worse when you do. The dried fruit adds to this, because it holds moisture of its own and releases it slowly into the crumb around it in an open pack, so a fruit biscuit left out softens faster than a plain one in the same kitchen. Reseal the wrapper or use a tin, and treat an open pack in days rather than weeks. Heat does very little here, which is the advantage of an uncoated biscuit: there is no chocolate to soften, mark fingers or bloom, so a warm room costs you nothing and a car or a rucksack is only a breakage risk. None of this is a fault in the biscuit; it is a fine, fat-rich, unprotected crumb behaving exactly as its build dictates, and the same build is what makes it break cleanly and melt on the tongue. ## Recipe Ideas McVitie's Fruit Shortcake Biscuits, 200g is the plain, uncoated one, which makes it flexible: it suits any drink, it suits a mixed tray, and crushed it brings its own fruit to a crumb base. Five builds below cover the saucer serve, a tray for visitors, a fruit tart base, a baked fruit crumb topping and a lunchbox pairing. Recipes, born here first The Saucer Serve How to make The Saucer Serve with McVitie's Fruit Shortcake. 3 min 1 cup Easy You'll need 3 McVitie's Fruit Shortcake biscuits 1 mug of tea A splash of milk if you take it Method Brew an ordinary strength tea. A strong tannic builder's brew flattens the fruit; a standard cup leaves room for it. Set the biscuits on the saucer rather than in the cup. A thin short crumb will not survive a dunk and there is no coating to hold it. Eat them dry between sips. The crumb melts and the fruit is the last thing left, which is the whole design. Reseal the pack straight away. Three is the right number; the sweetness does not build the way a coated biscuit's does. The Visitor Tray How to make The Visitor Tray with McVitie's Fruit Shortcake. 5 min 4 servings Easy You'll need 12 McVitie's Fruit Shortcake biscuits A pot of Earl Grey A wedge of mild cheddar A handful of grapes Method Brew a pot of Earl Grey. The bergamot and the dried fruit sit well together and neither has to shout. Set out twelve biscuits, a wedge of mild cheddar and a handful of grapes. Keep the tray uncomplicated. The point of a plain fruit biscuit is that it suits everyone at the table, including anyone who does not want chocolate. Pour and leave the pack sealed in the kitchen. What you'll end up with: A tray nobody has to negotiate. The mild cheese works because the crumb is plain and the fruit is faintly tart. Fruit Shortcake Tart Base How to make Fruit Shortcake Tart Base with McVitie's Fruit Shortcake. 15 min + chill 1 x 20cm base Easy You'll need 200g McVitie's Fruit Shortcake biscuits 80g butter, melted A pinch of salt A 20cm loose-bottomed tin Method Crush the whole 200g pack to fine crumbs. A short crumb crushes finer than an oat one and needs less butter to hold. Stir in 80g of melted butter and a pinch of salt until it looks like wet sand. Press into a lined 20cm loose-bottomed tin and chill for an hour. Fill with something light: lemon curd and cream, or a set custard. This base has less structure than a digestive or oat one, so keep the filling off the heavy end. What you'll end up with: A base that brings its own fruit, which is why it needs no extra sweetening. Best cut cold and eaten the same day. Baked Fruit Crumb Topping How to make Baked Fruit Crumb Topping with McVitie's Fruit Shortcake. 30 min 4 servings Easy You'll need 120g McVitie's Fruit Shortcake biscuits 40g cold butter 500g rhubarb or plums 2 tablespoons sugar Method Cook 500g of chopped rhubarb or plums with 2 tablespoons of sugar for 8 minutes until they slump. Crush 120g of biscuits coarsely and rub in 40g of cold butter until it clumps. Scatter the crumb over the fruit and bake at 180°C for 20 minutes. Serve warm with cream. What you'll end up with: Lighter and quicker than an oat crumble, with the dried fruit in the topping echoing the fresh fruit underneath. Best eaten the day it is made. The Lunchbox Pair How to make The Lunchbox Pair with McVitie's Fruit Shortcake. 2 min 1 lunchbox Easy You'll need 3 McVitie's Fruit Shortcake biscuits 1 apple A small carton of milk A rigid box Method Pack three biscuits in a rigid box rather than a soft pocket. There is no chocolate to melt here, so breakage is the only risk. Add an apple and a carton of milk. The plain crumb works with both. Reseal the biscuit pack at home, not in the bag. Eat at room temperature. Cold from a fridge, a fine crumb tastes of very little. What you'll end up with: The uncoated biscuit is the one that survives a bag in a warm term-time week, and the one to send where chocolate is not wanted. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._