WEB PAGE NO. 2890 6th March 2022

First Picture: Iced Gems Second Picture Packet Iced Gems

Third Picture: Messrs Huntley and Palmer

Forth Picture: Singapore Iced Gems

The Iced Gem Biscuits These were always a treat from my Granny! The real name is Iced Gems and they were first made in 1850s (the biscuit part) by biscuit manufacturers Huntley and Palmers in Reading. Like many inventions, they were an accidental discovery as these biscuits shrunk and came out smaller than their intended size during a biscuit experimentation! The makers started selling them as Gems and subsequently added the icing bit in 1910 and as they say, there was no turning back. After a whole series of mergers/sell-offs, the production of these little guys now come under what is known as Jacob's today. The Huntley and Palmers brand today is a newly established biscuit company who bought the brand over from Danone when they sold it. It is interesting to see how different people from all corners of the world identify with these little biscuits. Many people in Singapore and Malaysia probably thought these were indigenous to our part of the world, often referred to as local old school snacks, since many of us grew up eating them.. They are locally known in Singapore/Malaysia as Biskut Ais Jem (malay transliteration), some also call them Belly Button biscuits, and probably more often than not, the terribly long name of ''those little biscuits with bits of colourful icing on them''. The local cousin of Iced Gems differ from the British originals in a few aspects - colour, taste and pointy-ness. Those found in Singapore have bright neon coloured icing of green, pink, yellow and white, compared to the muted colours of the Jacob's ones (though I wonder what colour Huntley & Palmers made them originally). The Singaporean ones are also far more pointy than Jacob's from what I see in pictures..! Do a quick search online for Iced Gems and you will find that there are many people who have fond childhood memories of eating them and sharing their stories on different forums. Everyone has a different method of eating them. Some eat the biscuits first and save the icing to savour at the end, others would bite off the icing first and throw away most of the biscuits or I'm sure some of you just chomp the whole thing down, perhaps even several at a time! dedicated to them. Stay in touch Peter