HOW THE COOKIE CRUMBLES...

America loves the women in the White House to be good cooks - as many presidential candidates have found to their cost. By Leonard Doyle

The great first lady bake-off

America's presidential cookie craze can be traced back to Chicago's Busy Bee Coffee Shop where, in 1992, Hillary Clinton blurted out: "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas."

Mrs Clinton's outburst came as a shock to a country which had always seen its first ladies as the nation's hostesses. Few were career women and Mrs Clinton's determination to break the mould caused endless grief during her White House years.

From Martha Washington onwards, first ladies were expected to make their mark in the executive mansion's kitchen and to take care of public entertaining and state events, while their husband went about the business of being president. This was not Mrs Clinton's style, but she deftly turned her biscuit gaffe to her advantage by quickly producing a top-notch recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

Since then, the race for the White House has been matched by an equally frenzied competition in America's kitchens to discover which candidate's spouse bakes the best cookie.

Mrs Clinton's Busy Bee gaffe occurred when she was asked about the ethics of her Arkansas law firm getting government business while Bill Clinton was state governor. The hash she made of the answer became a campaign headache for her husband. It was an early example of her political tin ear, although not quite as bad as when she said "I'm not sitting here as some little woman 'standing by my man' like Tammy Wynette" - an unforgivable putdown of country music.

The cookie controversy has become part of the political landscape, celebrated every four years with a presidential bake-off organised by Family Circle magazine. In 1992, it was a chocolate chip head-to-head with Barbara Bush. Mrs Clinton's recipe won, with 55 per cent of the votes to Mrs Bush's 45 per cent. Consumer Reports magazine, which rates everything from cars to hot dogs, put her recipe to the test and concluded that if her political ambitions failed she would make a fine cookie entrepreneur. The verdict on her chocolate chip cookies was: "Delicate crispness, chewy; smooth, chocolatey chips."

And so a tradition was born. In fact, Family Circle readers have had a 100 per cent record in predicting the White House winner on the basis of their cookie-baking prowess. In subsequent years, Laura Bush's cowboy cookies were judged tastier than Tipper Gore's ginger snaps, and the oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies she entered in 2004 fended off competition from John Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

This year's bake-off has become controversial because Cindy McCain's oatmeal-butterscotch cookie recipe was identified as a near carbon copy of a recipe on a food website. Michelle Obama, meanwhile, has submitted a recipe for shortbread cookies with citrus zest and a dash of Amaretto, which came from the godmother to her daughters.

"Cookies have been an American tradition for over 200 years and for decades have been served at White House receptions," said Bev Young, author of Presidential Cookies. "They are one of our most revered traditions and most of the presidents and first ladies have had a sweet tooth."

Although George Washington did not live on Pennsylvania Avenue, jumbals cookies were a favourite nibble during the Christmas season at his home in nearby Mount Vernon. He and Martha were prodigious entertainers and had 677 guests at their table in one year alone.

Most first ladies stayed out of politics but Eleanor Roosevelt was different, a vocal supporter of her husband's New Deal policies as well as an advocate for civil rights. She would go on to serve as a delegate to the UN Assembly after President Franklin D Roosevelt's death. That's not to say she wasn't a domestic goddess, however. The Roosevelts entertained on a lavish scale and cookies were sure to be served.

Martha Washington

FIRST LADY 1789-1797

The first lady title was not coined until after her death so Martha was known as Lady Washington. The Washingtons entertained constantly at Mount Vernon, their Virginia home, but detailed records exist of only four meals served, and these survive thanks to the diary of Joshua Brookes, a visiting Englishman. Mrs Washington's cookie recipe has been adapted to suit modern ingredients.

MARTHA WASHINGTONS JUMBALS

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 quarter teaspoon salt

Grated rind of one orange

1 well-beaten egg

3 cups of sifted flour

1 Preheat oven to 180C.

2 In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, salt and rind until light and fluffy.

3 Beat in egg.

4 Add the flour, working it thoroughly into dough.

5 Roll the dough on a lightly floured board to about 1/4 of an inch thick.

6 Cut into rings with a doughnut cutter and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes on a greased baking sheet until brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes five dozen jumbals

Presidential Cookies