Wagon Wheels Jammie: what the jam layer changes

The jam is the only sharp thing in a Wagon Wheel, and it is the whole case for picking this version over the Original. It turns a very sweet round into one with some contrast, and that changes what belongs in the mug beside it.

Four layers in one round

Per the published ingredient list, a Jammie Wagon Wheel is a wheat-flour biscuit with a mallow filling and a raspberry-flavour apple jam, sealed inside a chocolate-flavoured coating. The coating accounts for about 23% of the product and the mallow about 19%, with the jam at 5%. The mallow is set with beef gelatine, which matters to anyone who avoids it.

The same list includes wheat, milk in the form of dried whey, and soya lecithin, so those are the entries to look for on the pack. The two biscuit rounds are deliberately plain, there to hold the soft middle in place, and the thin coating supplies the small snap of the first bite. It behaves more like an assembled confection than a tin biscuit, and that explains most of how to treat it.

Jammie or Original?

Both come six to a pack, each round wrapped on its own, so check which one you are picking up. The Original is marshmallow alone, soft and sweet with nothing to cut through it. In the Jammie the jam sits in its own band rather than being mixed into the marshmallow, so it reaches you as a separate, sharper note a moment into each bite instead of a vague fruitiness.

Anyone who finds the Original too sweet should start here. The set jam also helps hold the middle firm, so a Jammie tends to survive a lunch bag in better shape instead of arriving squashed inside its wrapper. Both versions are made by FBC UK at the Llantarnam bakery in South Wales, the same site that bakes Jammie Dodgers.

Tea, storage and the dunking question

Keep it out of the mug. The coating softens the moment it meets hot tea, the rounds soak it up and the whole thing slumps, so eat it dry beside the cup. What it wants is an unsweetened, properly strong brew, a breakfast blend or a builder's mug, because tannin is what clears all that sugar from your mouth between bites. For children, a glass of cold milk does the same job.

Store the pack somewhere cool, dry and away from the light. Heat turns the mallow slack and takes the coating with it, and while the individual wrapper keeps the mess contained, it cannot put the round back into shape. A hot car or a sunny windowsill is the worst place for a box; a cool cupboard is the right one.

The packs we stock

• Wagon Wheels 6 Jammie Biscuits (barcode 5010049001987)

What the label says

Ingredients, as published: Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Iron And Thiamin), Chocolate Flavoured Coating (23%) (Sugar, Vegetable Fats (Sustainable Palm Kernel, Sustainable Palm, Shea), Dried Whey (Milk), Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Emulsifiers (E476, Soya Lecithin)), Mallow (19%) (Glucose Syrup, Gelling Agent (Beef Gelatine), Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid)), Sugar, Raspberry Flavour Apple Jam (5%) (Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Apples, Sugar, Humectant (Glycerol), Acid (Citric Acid), Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrates), Flavourings, Colours (Anthocyanins, Annatto Norbixin), Gelling Agent (Pectin)), Sustainable Palm Oil, Glucose Syrup, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Raising Agent (Sodium Bicarbonate), Salt.

Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.

What to drink with it

• Yorkshire Tea Original Loose Leaf Tea, 250g: A pot of strong loose-leaf Yorkshire Tea has enough tannin to clear the sweetness between bites.
• PG Tips English Breakfast Special Blends Speciality Black, 70 Tea Bags: A robust English breakfast in a bag, the straightforward mug for a Jammie at home.
• Hyson Premium Breakfast Tea, 100 Tea Bags 180g: Another full breakfast blend to brew strong and drink without sugar alongside the jam and marshmallow.

Elsewhere in the Wagon Wheels range

• Wagon Wheels Original Biscuit, 6 Pack

The full range is on the Wagon Wheels brand page.

FAQ

What flavour is the jam in a Jammie Wagon Wheel? The published ingredient list calls it raspberry flavour apple jam, set with pectin.

Are Jammie Wagon Wheels suitable for vegetarians? The ingredient list shows the mallow is set with beef gelatine, so anyone avoiding gelatine should leave them out. FBC UK says suitability for vegetarians differs between variants, so read the pack.

Why does a Jammie travel better in a lunch bag? The set jam helps hold the middle firm, so the round is less likely to arrive squashed inside its wrapper.

What is the difference between Jammie and Original Wagon Wheels? A layer of jam. It brings the only acidity in the product, which cuts the sweetness of the marshmallow.

Where is the best place to keep a box of Jammies? In a cool, dry cupboard out of the light. Warmth softens both the mallow and the coating.

Curator's note: Break one across the middle before you eat it and you will see the jam and the marshmallow sitting in their own bands. Then put the kettle on for something strong. Lee, Teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Wagon Wheels Jammie: what the jam layer changes

More from the tea wiki

• Tea and Biscuits
• Biscuit Dunking Physics: The Real Science
• Tea Pairing Principles: Reason, Don't Memorise
• Tea With Cake: The Pairing That Never Fails (If You Get It Right)
• Tea and Food Pairing: The Five Principles

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