Paul Hollywood’s Jumbles

Delicious knots of spiced biscuit, Jumbles were a favourite Tudor treat, flavoured with caraway, aniseed and mace.

Serves: 8
  • Ingredients
  • Method
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Method

Step 1
Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. Place the caraway seeds in a pestle & mortar and grind to a powder. Sieve the caraway, flour, aniseed and mace together into a bowl.

Step 2
Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar and lemon zest. Add the eggs and bring the mixture together to form a soft dough.

Step 3
Divide the dough into 6 balls weighing 65g and 6 balls weighing 85g (you might have a little left over). Place the dough balls on one of the baking sheets, cover with clingfilm and chill for 30 mins.

Step 4
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4. Knead the 6 pieces of dough weighing 65g on a lightly floured surface and roll using your fingertips into a 30cm rope. Knot into double knots.

Step 5
Shape the remaining 6 pieces of dough weighing 85g into Celtic knots.

Step 6
Using a palette knife, carefully lift the dough shapes onto the lined baking trays, spacing them slightly apart. The double knots will take 5–10 minutes longer to bake than the Celtic knots, so don’t mix shapes on the baking sheets. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with caster sugar.

Step 7
Bake the Celtic knots for 15–20 minutes, until golden brown, and the double knots for 20–25 minutes.

Step 8
Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.