Alternative names | Bourbon cream, Bourbon, Chocolate Bourbon |
---|---|
Type | Biscuit |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Region or state | London |
Created by | Peek Freans |
Main ingredients | Dark chocolate-flavoured biscuits, chocolate buttercream |
The Bourbon (pronounced /ˈbʊərbən/ [1] or /ˈbɔːrbən/ [2]) is a sandwich biscuit consisting of two thin rectangular dark chocolate-flavoured biscuits with a chocolate buttercream filling.
The biscuit was introduced in 1910 (originally under the name "Creola") by the biscuit company Peek Freans, of Bermondsey, London, originator of the Garibaldi biscuit. [3] [4] [5] The Bourbon name, dating from the 1930s, comes from the former French and Spanish royal House of Bourbon. [6] A 2009 survey found that the Bourbon biscuit was the fifth most popular biscuit in the United Kingdom for dunking into tea. [7]
The small holes in bourbon biscuits are to prevent the biscuits from cracking or breaking during the baking process, by allowing steam to escape. [8] Many other companies make their own version of the biscuit under the "Bourbon" name, including major supermarkets. [9]
McVitie's chocolate-coated Penguin biscuits are made with the same biscuit mix as their bourbon biscuit, but the filling is different. [10]
It is commonly believed that Peek Freans chose the name based on the French or Spanish House of Bourbon. [6]