The mystery of Yorkshire forced rhubarb
Robert Tomlinson’s family has been growing forced rhubarb on their Pudsey farm for over 100 years. Each year we devise a special menu that celebrates his uniquely Yorkshire crop. But why is Yorkshire forced rhubarb special?
The Art of Bettys Chocolate
With spring just around the corner, we’ve shaken our imagination awake from where it was curled up by the fireplace and set to work creating a host of new treats for Easter. Love, Bettys
Maybe it’s time to fall back in love with Valentine’s Day. Leave the grand romantic gestures to the films: who has enough vases to find room for a hundred red roses? Here at Bettys, we think of Valentine’s more as a day celebrating all kinds of love, a time to show kindness and understanding, whether that’s to your other half, beloved best friend, a special auntie or even yourself.
Do you remember your first Fat Rascal?
This year, we had the chance to see the lovely Fred Sirieix come face to face with our famous cake for the very first time, when baker extraordinaire and Bettys fan Nadiya Hussain brought him to visit us for tea.
An update about Little Bettys
In spring 2021 we made the difficult decision to close the first-floor café at our Little Bettys branch in York while keeping the ground floor shop open. In the autumn, with a heavy heart, we took the further decision to close the shop and with it the branch. Make birthdays brilliant with Bettys
It’s time to enjoy being together again – and with delicious food, jolly decorations and that all-important cake, a birthday provides the ideal excuse to make seeing your favourite people even more of an event. So we asked Bettys’ ‘Head of Beautiful’ Robyn Cox to work his styling magic and share some ideas for indoor and outdoor party spreads that look and taste as wonderful as the occasion deserves. Bettys features on BBC's Remarkable Places to Eat
Nadiya Hussain and Fred Sirieix visit Bettys as they tour the UK's most Remarkable Places to Eat. Make your house Bettys beautiful this Easter
With spring in the air and new life all around, the natural world outside provides perfect inspiration for brightening up things indoors. As Bettys’ ‘Head of Beautiful’ and the magpie mind behind our lovely window displays, Robyn Cox has a wealth of crafty tips and styling suggestions up his sleeve. Now he’s turned his attention to beautifying your home with these easy but eye-catching Easter ideas.
Flat feat
Our Easter eggs have always had something of a sense of adventure. But these two go further than most. With their slim profiles, our Dark Chocolate Flat Egg With Glacé Orange and our new Milk Chocolate Flat Egg take the idea of a traditional egg and, well, flatten it.
Easter at Bettys: the most beautiful eggs you can give
It feels good to make somebody smile. Easter is a wonderful chance to do just that, by handing a gloriously gift-wrapped chocolate egg to a person you love. And if that feels good, imagine how it feels to make somebody not just smile… but jump up and down with delight, run around the room excitedly and grin with sheer, delicious satisfaction every single time they snap off a piece to enjoy. That's what makes Bettys eggs the most beautiful gifts this Easter.
Pretty in pink - a shimmering Easter gift
If you’re a fan of Easter as much as we are here at Bettys, you’ll understand when we say how for us there’s no such thing as ‘plain’ chocolate. From creamy white and silky brown to dark and glossy – not to mention all the ways it can be stippled, brushed and lovingly adorned by our chocolatiers – the quality of our chocolate makes every one of our Easter eggs a beauty to behold.
Recipe: Lesley Wild’s Easter Simnel cake
Chocolate may get the lion's share of the attention at Easter, but there are a few other classics that we think are just as delicious. Take Simnel Cake, for example - a rich, fruity classic that's a marzipan lover's dream. And in this recipe from Lesley Wild, founder of Bettys Cookery School, we'll even teach you how to make your own marzipan from scratch.
How our Cone Exchange project is helping during the pandemic
At the start of 2020, our Cone Exchange was looking forward to its busiest and best year yet. The project had already come far since 2003, when it began as a way to find inventive new uses for leftover materials – and not just cardboard cones – from Bettys Craft Bakery and the Taylors Tea & Coffee Factory.
Make your own Bettys Easter cards
Colouring-in is a lovely, mindful way to relax not to mention a brilliant way to get creative. These colour-in Easter cards featuring five different egg designs – based on real Bettys eggs no less. They're perfect for creating homemade cards to show someone special that you’re thinking of them.
Film: Easter, all sewn up
It's chocolate season - and from eggs to cakes to gift hampers, we've got delights for everyone. To switch on the perfect Easter, just press the "Bettys" button.
Recipe: Hot Cross Buns
Hot cross buns are as much a part of Easter as chocolate eggs and simnel cake. They mark the end of lent and are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, though we’ve come to love them so much that they now tend to be eaten throughout March and April. If you haven’t been lucky enough to buy one of our giant Hot Cross Buns this year, this recipe will make sure you don’t miss out.
Festive decoration tips from Bettys’ Head of Beautiful
Bettys’ Head of Beautiful, Robyn Cox, is the creative mind behind our glorious window displays, including our famous Christmas creations. Here he offers his tips for creating a little Bettys-style festive magic at home We're sorry - we're sold out of treats for Christmas delivery
We knew it would be a really busy Christmas this year, so we prepared thoroughly by making twice as many treats and ensuring we had plenty more delivery slots available. Despite this, we've now sold out of everything that could be delivered before 25th December. Best in glass: a peek at our Café Tea Room windows
At Bettys we always make sure to keep our silver teapots sparkling and our cake trollies stocked with everyone’s favourites, but the finishing touch for any of our six Café Tea Rooms is a window display good enough to devour. Although they’re best peered at in person – ideally shortly before heading into the café for a treat – we also love sharing our most creative and colourful displays online. Wherever you are, we hope they brighten up your day. The story of our cracking Christmas design
This Christmas at Bettys, we’re captivated by the spirit of the 1920s. A decade of both breathless modernity and timeless beauty, its iconic styles still delight a century later. It was also an exciting time for our youthful business, as we opened elegant new cafés across Yorkshire and started sending out treats by mail order. Fruit cake and cheese: Yorkshire’s own odd couple
As we at Bettys well know, Yorkshire’s culinary delights are many, from treacle-sticky parkin and dainty curd tarts to the joy of a perfectly risen Yorkshire pudding. But one local invention still prompts double takes beyond the county’s borders – the idea that however fine your slice of fruit cake, it can always be improved by the addition of cheese. Bettys vs Taylors – the battle for the cup
At Bettys, we know how much better everything is when you come together over a freshly brewed cup. And one reason why is that we’re lucky to have Taylors as our sister company, supplying the teas and coffees in our cafés, shops and online. But it wasn’t always that way for these one-time rivals.
Recipe: Leek & Harrogate Blue Cheese Tart
Take the fear out of pastry with our recipe for this lovely tart which is perfect for family dinners and picnics. What's more, you can adapt the recipe to use up left-overs in the fridge.
101 years of comfort through cake
Annie Gray, author of ‘From the Alps to the Dales’ shares her reflections on how our specialities and service have provided nourishment and joy in difficult times across our 100-year history.