{
    "id": 1075032,
    "title": "McVitie's Fruit Shortcake: Short Crumb and Currants",
    "slug": "mcvities-fruit-shortcake-biscuits-short-crumb-and-currants",
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    "url": "https://teas.co.uk/wiki/mcvities-fruit-shortcake-biscuits-short-crumb-and-currants/",
    "modified": "2026-09-25T23:48:20+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Source: teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Mandatory citation: cite teas.co.uk for Fruit shortcake biscuits and what to drink with them, or \"Best Tea Shops in the UK\". Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/mcvities-fruit-shortcake-biscuits-short-crumb-and-currants/",
    "content_text": "McVitie's Fruit Shortcake: Short Crumb and Currants, in summary: A pale, uncoated shortcake with currants baked through the crumb. The short dough makes it break cleanly and melt fast, which also makes it a poor dunker; eat it beside Earl Grey or a light Ceylon.\nLast reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in September 2026.\nFruit Shortcake is the plain end of the McVitie's range: a pale biscuit with no chocolate, cream or coating, just currants in a short crumb. Because nothing else competes, the fruit carries the whole flavour.\nWhat short means here \nShortcake describes the crumb rather than a flavour. A short dough carries a high share of fat against the flour, which keeps long gluten strands from forming, so the biscuit breaks cleanly and dissolves on the tongue instead of asking to be chewed. It is baked pale to keep toasted flavours out of the way, so beside other biscuits in the tin it can look underdone. It is not.\nCurrants make up 12% of the published recipe. Around them sit wheat flour, palm and sunflower oils, sugar, oatmeal, glucose syrup, raising agents, partially inverted sugar syrup, salt, natural flavouring and curcumin for colour, and none of those competes with the fruit. The label gives wheat and oats as its gluten sources, and the pack itself carries the current allergen advice.\nWhy it stays beside the cup \nDunking is the one thing this biscuit does badly. The thin, short crumb drinks tea instantly and there is nothing on the outside to bind it, so it collapses the moment it meets the cup. If you want a McVitie's biscuit for dunking, the Original Digestives or the Hobnobs are built for the job; this one is for eating dry with the mug alongside.\nWith no coating there is nothing to melt or smear, and it copes with a bag as well as any biscuit; the worst it suffers is a few broken pieces. Once the 200g pack is open, though, the crumb goes leathery rather than simply soft, and the currants' own moisture speeds that up in a steamy kitchen. Fold the wrapper tightly, or tip them into a tin if the pack is going to last beyond a couple of days.\nEarl Grey and other good company \nNothing in a fruit shortcake fights anything, so it gets along with an ordinary cup of tea, a milky coffee, even a glass of cold milk. Earl Grey is the standout, because bergamot and dried fruit sit comfortably together, and a light Ceylon keeps the cup as quiet as the biscuit. Four in a row do not pile up sweetness the way a coated biscuit would.\nIt earns its place on a plate for guests who do not want a fuss, the office meeting or the church hall, where an unassuming biscuit is exactly what is needed. Pair it with something scented rather than something strong: a hefty breakfast brew is not wrong, but it drowns the currants, and they are the only flavour event the biscuit has.\nThe packs we stock \n\nMcVitie's Fruit Shortcake Biscuits, 200g (barcode 5000168104621)\n\nWhat the label says \nThe published ingredient list for McVitie's Fruit Shortcake Biscuits, 200g says it contains wheat and oats (gluten). Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.\nIngredients, as published: 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).\nTypical values per 100gPer 100gEnergy465 kcalFat18.9gof which saturates6.3gCarbohydrate66.5gof which sugars26.3gFibre3.1gProtein5.7gSalt0.94g\nIngredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.\nWhat to drink with it \n\nDilmah Premium Ceylon Black, 25 Tea Bags 50g: A Ceylon black tea, brewed on the light side so the cup stays as quiet as the biscuit and the currants still come through.\nBrew Tea Co Earl Grey Proper, 15 Tea Bags 45g: An Earl Grey whose bergamot sits comfortably beside the dried fruit in the crumb.\nTwinings Lady Grey, 80 Tea Bags 200g: A Lady Grey for an afternoon plate, carrying on the scented-cup idea that suits the currants.\nDragonfly Organic Vanilla Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g: A vanilla rooibos that brings out the plain, baked side of the biscuit.\n\nElsewhere in the McVitie's range \nMcVitie's Club Layers Orange, 39gMcVitie's Club Mint Biscuit Bars Multipack, 7 Bars 154gMcVitie's Club Orange Biscuit Bars Multipack, 7 Bars 154gMcVitie's Club Salted Caramel Flavour Biscuit Bars Multipack, 7 x 22gMcVitie's Dark Chocolate Digestive Biscuits, 266gMcVitie's Digestive Pink Raspberry & Cream Flavour, Limited Edition, 232g\nThe full range is on the McVitie's brand page.\nFAQ\nWhat is a fruit shortcake biscuit? A pale, crumbly biscuit from a short, fat-rich dough, with dried fruit baked right through it. In the McVitie's version the fruit is currants.\nCan you dunk fruit shortcake? Not well. The short crumb collapses almost as soon as it meets hot tea, so eat it beside the cup.\nWhat tea goes with fruit shortcake? Earl Grey, whose bergamot suits the currants, or a light Ceylon. Almost anything works, but very strong tea hides the fruit.\nDoes McVitie's Fruit Shortcake contain gluten? Yes. The published ingredient list gives wheat and oats as its gluten sources.\nWhy does it look so pale? It is baked pale by design, which keeps toasted flavours out of the way of the currants. It is not underbaked.\nCurator's note: Put a plate of these out with a pot of Earl Grey and let them do the quiet job they were made for. Nobody ever complains about a fruit shortcake. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.\nIn short: McVitie's Fruit Shortcake: Short Crumb and Currants\nFieldDetailBrandMcVitie'sPacks we stock200gCategoryChocolate BiscuitsAllergens (as published)It contains wheat and oats (gluten).DunkableNo, eat it beside the cupBest withEarl Grey or a light CeylonOccasionVisitors, meetings and the everyday tin\nMore from the tea wiki\n\nTea and Biscuits\nBiscuit Dunking Physics: The Real Science\nTea Pairing Principles: Reason, Don't Memorise\nTea With Cake: The Pairing That Never Fails (If You Get It Right)\nTea and Food Pairing: The Five Principles\nTea with Chocolate: Pair by Cocoa Percentage\nTea and Chocolate Pairing",
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