Tunnock's Teacake man at 90
February 12, 2023 11:58 AM Subscribe
I’m in at 6am every day, except Sundays when I start a bit later....
I have a bike to get around the factory. It’s 50 years old and my father had it in front of me. It’s the same one – powered by a car battery. I have all my accoutrements on it too – a horn, sanitiser and a bell. I need to let people know I am coming! The secret diary of Sir Boyd Tunnock, aged 90 and 11 days. Tunnocks has been a family business in Scotland since 1890 - it produces such iconic sweet delights as the caramel wafer, the snowball and the tea cake which Sir Boyd invented himself back in the 50s.
Tunnocks previously.
Original Sunday Post article.
Tunnocks previously.
Original Sunday Post article.
Coincidentally, we had Tunnock's Teacakes and Caramel Wafers for tea today because I decided to push the boat out and go to Waitrose.
God bless Sir Boyd Tunnock!
posted by Grangousier at 12:52 PM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
God bless Sir Boyd Tunnock!
posted by Grangousier at 12:52 PM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
The dark chocolate caramel wafers and snowballs are a rare sighting south of the border, but a fantastic treat when you find them.
I have a Scottish colleague at work who brought in a selection of every Tunnock's product plus dozens of cans of Irn-Bru on the day of the independence referendum in 2014. I think I accelerated the decay of my teeth by a decade in one afternoon.
posted by greycap at 2:23 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I have a Scottish colleague at work who brought in a selection of every Tunnock's product plus dozens of cans of Irn-Bru on the day of the independence referendum in 2014. I think I accelerated the decay of my teeth by a decade in one afternoon.
posted by greycap at 2:23 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Caramel Wafers are also a huge deal, I discover, in the Caribbean — especially Guyana. You can't have a Guyanese restaurant in Toronto that doesn't sell Caramel Wafers. It would just be wrong.
Back when I was in Glasgow and could eat 'em, the big bag of broken up Caramel Wafers from Henry Healy's was a special treat.
posted by scruss at 2:56 PM on February 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Back when I was in Glasgow and could eat 'em, the big bag of broken up Caramel Wafers from Henry Healy's was a special treat.
posted by scruss at 2:56 PM on February 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Grumble grumble nationalise Tunnocks I say.
posted by aesop at 3:27 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by aesop at 3:27 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Tunnocks caramel wafers, caramel logs and snowballs are very popular in Newfoundland too. I may get funny looks for this but snowballs taste best straight from the freezer.
posted by peppermind at 3:55 PM on February 12, 2023
posted by peppermind at 3:55 PM on February 12, 2023
Caramel wafers, are those like stroop waffels?
No. They're like Nutty Buddys but with caramel between the layers instead of peanut butter.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 8:27 PM on February 12, 2023
No. They're like Nutty Buddys but with caramel between the layers instead of peanut butter.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 8:27 PM on February 12, 2023
Or for those who don't have Nutty Buddys, Caramel Wafers are a bit like the love child of a stroopwaffel and a KitKat; but the four sticks are larger and individually wrapped rather than conjoined like a KitKat.
posted by bartleby at 9:18 PM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by bartleby at 9:18 PM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
I once stumbled across a small Tunnocks warehouse near a USA military base on Okinawa. That was unexpected.
posted by BinaryApe at 1:10 AM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by BinaryApe at 1:10 AM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Many have tried to imitate the teacake, none have come close.
posted by benoliver999 at 1:57 AM on February 13, 2023
posted by benoliver999 at 1:57 AM on February 13, 2023
A Scottish colleague brought a packet of Tunnock's Chocolate Cream bars with her on a visit to the London office, a few years back. I ate one. It was delicious. I wondered why I'd never had one before.
Well, that's easy. It's because you can't get Tunnock's Chocolate Creams in England. At all. None of the supermarkets carry them; Amazon pretends it has a supplier, but when I bought some, I ended up with Caramel Wafers instead, which are of course excellent, but which I could have bought locally for a quarter the price.
I need people to start talking about them so that this situation can be rectified.
Other than that, the original Tunnock's Tea Cake is my favourite. Delicious, reliable, and they have a short enough shelf-life that sometimes you find you really do, alas, woe is you, simply have to finish the packet.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 4:59 AM on February 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
Well, that's easy. It's because you can't get Tunnock's Chocolate Creams in England. At all. None of the supermarkets carry them; Amazon pretends it has a supplier, but when I bought some, I ended up with Caramel Wafers instead, which are of course excellent, but which I could have bought locally for a quarter the price.
I need people to start talking about them so that this situation can be rectified.
Other than that, the original Tunnock's Tea Cake is my favourite. Delicious, reliable, and they have a short enough shelf-life that sometimes you find you really do, alas, woe is you, simply have to finish the packet.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 4:59 AM on February 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
Well, that was as charming as charming can be. May he carry on for many more boxes.
posted by scratch at 6:44 AM on February 13, 2023
posted by scratch at 6:44 AM on February 13, 2023
(In case you had been wondering what it would be like to go tour the factory and say hi to Boyd on this bike while stocking up on dark chocolate snowballs and chocolate creams - you are not the first and …you can’t …tour bookings were suspended back in 2019, pre-Covid, because demand was making the waiting list too long. You’d need a golden teacake wrapper or something. )
posted by rongorongo at 7:41 AM on February 13, 2023
posted by rongorongo at 7:41 AM on February 13, 2023
I’m intrigued by this 50 year old car-battery powered bike he talks about. Does he just mean the lights? Does it have some sort of motor?
posted by Jon Mitchell at 7:51 AM on February 13, 2023
posted by Jon Mitchell at 7:51 AM on February 13, 2023
One of the things I love about Canada is fairly easy access to sweets like Tunnock's. Sure you can't find them in every grocery store, but your odds are higher than they would be in the US.
posted by Kitteh at 10:20 AM on February 14, 2023
posted by Kitteh at 10:20 AM on February 14, 2023
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Can there be a piece of merchandise more Scottish than a Tunnock's Caramel Wafer rain poncho? Only a fiver!
posted by biffa at 12:13 PM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]