STEP INTO
Christmas at Bettys Craft Bakery
When we say it’s always Christmas at Bettys we really mean it. All year round our teams of bakers, chocolatiers, cake decorators, menu planners and range developers are getting things ready for the big day. From stirring up classic Christmas puddings to meticulously hand piping delicate details onto Christmas cakes, even during the summer months there’s always something to be done. It takes a lot of people to create a brilliant Bettys Christmas. Read on to see when Christmas starts for some of them.
Whether your Christmas starts with writing your gift list, or your first sip of mulled wine, we will be working away until the early hours to make sure that every parcel, present and moment in our Café Tea Rooms is as deliciously memorable as it can be.
From our family to yours,
We wish you a very Bettys Christmas.
Christmas starts when...
...The Bettys Christmas Windows are Revealed
Danni Greig joined our Craft Bakery when it opened in 1999 and has been with us ever since. As one of the artists in our cake decorating team, she is responsible for crafting all sorts of wonders from sugar for our stunning window displays.
What do you need to be a cake decorator at Bettys?
Creativity, consistency, problem solving…and a very steady hand. There’s a lot in the eye too – a perfectionist’s eye for detail, an eye for matching a colour swatch with icing. Knowing when all the little details are just right. My mum was a professional cake decorator for 40 years – it’s in the blood!
What do you look forward to about Christmas?
I am always VERY excited to start the festive window centrepieces – this will be my 20th year making them, and even though I know it’ll take hundreds and hundreds of hours, I love finding out what I’ll be working on. In a modern world where things like 3D printing exist, I’m so proud to create our window centrepieces with traditional sugarcraft and icing – a mix of sweetness and magic.
What is your favourite window display?
Our Centenary Year window display in 2019 was a lot of fun – if a lot of work! We created replicas of all of our Café Tea Rooms and then arranged them to make a whole street of Bettys. I loved doing the tiny details like the brickwork and the hanging planters in Ilkley, and – of course – a little Bettys van making its deliveries.
Festive flavours of the season
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Our bakers are not exactly known for their restraint…but they have really done it this time. A rich, treacly sponge of dark muscovado sugar, golden syrup, fudgy dates and lots of butter, steamed until light and luxurious then drenched in creamy toffee sauce. When you warm it up at home, the sauce infuses into the sponge to create a sumptuous, sticky pudding to enjoy with cream or custard (and a steaming cup of tea).
£12.00
Christmas Moments Gift Box
A perfectly formed festive selection including a generous portion of our decadent, treacly Christmas cake and a box of supremely buttery Spiced Christmas Shortbread and our Chocolate Tasting Box, along with our refreshing Tea Room Blend tea and smooth, aromatic Christmas Blend Coffee. A thoughtful gift for couples and smaller households, or a generous employee ‘thank you’ to buy for the whole team.
£50.00
Speciality Mince Pies (Box of 12)
Our classic, supremely buttery pastry brimming rich, fruity, brandy-soaked mincemeat filling, topped with either a swirl of ricciarelli or a neat layer of almond frangipane – every box contains six of each. Ricciarelli are classic Italian biscuits, similar to amaretti but softer and with a delightful ‘chew’. The rich, almondy biscuit dough can be layered over a mince pie in lieu of a pastry hat – a wonderfully moreish combination.
£21.95
OUR AWARD WINNING COOKERY SCHOOL
Bettys Christmas Classics
Using our time-honoured recipes and with guidance from our expert tutors, you will bake a 20cm Christmas cake, make and cook a Christmas pudding (serves 4-6) and, using pastry and mincemeat provided, cut out, fill and bake six delicious mince pies with streusel topping.