The Bettys Blog

Some people love fruit cake. Some swear by dark chocolate. And some can’t get enough of our Rose & Violet Creams. But, as we slowly sink our teeth through a delicious layer of sweet, soft icing to the moist sponge and rich buttercream beneath, there’s one thing we know for sure - everyone loves Fondant Fancies.

'The grumpy pig'. Sounds rather like a pub name, doesn't it? But actually we're referring to this fellow, spotted in Bettys Ilkley. How did he come upon his grumpy expression? Was it mischief in our Craft Bakery or simply a delightful accident? We'll never know, but head to Bettys to see if you can find your own grumpy pig. Made from Genoese sponge with vanilla buttercream and covered with marzipan, we can guarantee one thing: you won't feel grumpy after eating one.

At our Craft Bakery in Harrogate we make around 10,000 of our iconic Yorkshire Fat Rascals every week – that’s more than two million since we launched them in 1983. Whether enjoyed with a cup of tea at our Café Tea Rooms or delivered freshly baked to your door, Fat Rascals are one of our most popular treats.

We always think that a good tea is for life - not just for National Tea Day. Which is why we put so much hard work into making sure our house tea is so deliciously satisfying.

For us, January is all about making thoughtful decisions about indulgences – ensuring that our treats count rather than abstaining from treats entirely. Take our beautifully light macaroons, for example. Their deliciousness brightens this winter month, and you can enjoy them safe in the knowledge that they are made properly, with natural ingredients. Oh, and one very special addition…

It was a bright blue day and the sun shone from an aquamarine sky as we travelled across the roaring roads, through the old silent churchyard, beside the bending, bubbling river and across the wobbly bridge to get to the edge of the deep woods.

The Master Bakers at Bettys have dressed up their butter biscuit bears as a tribute to the album that changed music forever.

Spring is now definitely here with the mornings getting lighter and the weather getting warmer. The trees that we planted back in November are now starting to have buds on and are getting some leaves. The first Bluebells are starting to open up and summer is only a light breeze away. It is a great time of year with everything feeling fresh and born again ready for the new season.

Seek out these seasonal treats in the fancy counters in our six Café Tea Rooms shops. Cute and highly nibble-able, we created these portable portions of pure deliciousness to put a smile on your face.

Our Cookery School chefs created this tasty and healthy dish to celebrate one of our favourite flavours: asparagus. It's in season now so pick up a bunch and try your hand at a simple-to-make spring supper. You can also visit our Café Tea Rooms where we've created a host of asparagus dishes - check the specials board.

Bettys is helping to plant 20,000 trees with the National Trust in the Yorkshire Dales as part of a project to restore a more natural habitat to the area and play a part in flood mitigation.

It’s nearly 100 years since the first Bettys opened, and there are things that even the biggest Bettys fan might not know about us. Here are some tales from the archive and recommendations for your next Bettys visit.

After nearly 100 years, Bettys has a great many tales to tell, including the one about the wrong train, the story of the forgotten Tea Rooms, and the time an overheard conversation changed the course of history. Make a cup of tea, slice a piece of cake, and get comfortable as we tell you 10 things you might not know about Bettys.

For many years the Queen’s Awards have been acknowledged as the country’s most prestigious business awards – and we’re thrilled that our family business just been honoured with a 2017 Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development, recognising our work to build a resilient and sustainable tea and coffee supply chain.

As you may have noticed, we love talking about our chocolatiers – they’re a talented bunch and as Easter approaches, there’s no better time to share secrets of how they work their magic.

Meet our chocolatiers Kirsty Mitchison and Josie Raine, stars of this year's Easter film. With more than half a century of Bettys experience between them, there’s no one better to take care of this Easter’s batch of good eggs.

If you’re a fan of Bettys, you’ll know that one of the reasons we adore Easter is that it gives us the chance to bring together the skills of both our chocolatiers and our cake decorating team in the creation of our Spring Flowers Eggs. Each crafted from our delicious Swiss chocolate and hand-iced with an eye-catching burst of delicate primroses, forget-me-nots and more, these eggs have been a favourite among our customers since our earliest days.

The tree planting season is well under way and I have been working in many different schools in North and West Yorkshire and with lots of different year groups to plant native trees in their school grounds.

We’re all about beautiful eggs at Bettys - from our largest and most spectacular creations to delicious treats for little ones. And when it comes to our handmade Trio of Filled Chocolate Eggs, we think we created a gift which wouldn’t look out of place on the catwalk.

As flowers cautiously unfurl and the sun threatens to become more than a half-remembered rumour, our inventive chefs have been busy cooking up new seasonal dishes to add to our Café Tea Rooms menus. Think of it as a kind of spring clean for your tastebuds, a fiesta of fresh ingredients to awaken the senses and drive away the last of the winter cobwebs.

Do any of these take your fancy? They're some of the seasonal treats available on the fancy counter in our six Café Tea Rooms shops. Pocket-sized portions of pure deliciousness to add a little ray of sunshine to your day, whatever the weather.

It’s clear, colourless and all too easily paired off with tonic. But for such an unassuming spirit, gin has a surprisingly murky history.