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The Bettys Blog

  • 11 December 2020

    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.
  • 18 November 2020

    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.
  • 1 November 2020

    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.
  • 6 August 2020

    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.
  • 29 June 2020

    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.

  • 23 June 2020

    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.

  • 16 June 2020

    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.

  • 8 June 2020

    How Frederick used his loaf

    You’ll often find us celebrating Bettys’ founder Frederick Belmont for his fine confectionery skills, his vision in opening our first café in Harrogate back in 1919 and for a dedication to doing things right that still inspires us today. What’s less usual is for us to praise the young Swiss orphan who chose to settle in Yorkshire for being the owner of a mean pair of biceps.

  • 28 May 2020

    Recipe: Chocolate milkshake with a difference

    Our award-winning hot chocolate makes the most delicious, velvety drink for wintry days, but it also makes a lovely, refreshing milkshake for when the weather is warmer.

  • 19 May 2020

    Recipe: Bettys Swiss Roll

    The Swiss Roll is in some ways the perfect Bettys dessert. For one, it references the home of our founder, Frederick Belmont, who was born near Bern (though it's thought the recipe actually originated in Austria). But more importantly, it is a simple treat that is comforting in its familiarity.

  • 17 May 2020

    Recipe: Vanilla pod ice cream

    Our Cookery School tutors are culinary wizards and keepers of the secrets of the Bettys craft. But occasionally, just occasionally, they reveal one of those secrets to the world.

  • 5 May 2020

    A brief history of Bettys

    It all begins with this man, Fritz Bützer – later to become Frederick Belmont – a Swiss orphan who travels Europe learning his trade as a confectioner, baker and chocolatier until one day, he embarks a boat to England to pursue his dream...

  • 16 April 2020

    Film: 30 Years of Trees for Life

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    It began with just one tree. We planted it outside Bettys Harrogate in 1990 - and since then, we've planted 5 million around the world (and there's plenty more to come). If you're a Bettys and Taylors customer, thank you! Our Trees for Life project blossomed because of you.

  • 8 April 2020

    ​Recipe: Slingsby Gin & pink grapefruit cakes

    These wickedly naughty little loaf cakes are truly made in Yorkshire. They combine the expert baking knowledge of Lisa Bennison, one of our most experienced Cookery School tutors and a Yorkshire lass through and through, with the irresistible flavours of Harrogate’s very own Slingsby Gin. What’s the saying? One for the cake, one for me…

  • 7 April 2020

    Film: The Bettys Imperial Egg

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    Did you know that our giant handmade Imperial Easter Eggs continue a tradition stretching back over a century to the birth of Bettys? Our founder, Frederick Belmont, created lavish Easter eggs which were ornately decorated with hand-piped icing. Though we didn't create one in 2020, we thought you might enjoy looking back at four designs from recent years.

  • 3 April 2020

    Make your house Bettys beautiful this Easter

    If you're finding that you have a little more time on your hands than usual and you fancy getting crafty this Easter, we're here to help. Robyn Cox is Bettys’ ‘Head of Beautiful’ and creates our lovely window displays. Now he’s turned his attention to beautifying your home this Easter with these three styling suggestions.

  • 1 April 2020

    Recipe: Bettys Swiss Rösti

    Swiss Rösti is one of our most famous and popular dishes. To understand why it's on our menu you have to go back to 1885 and a little town called Lindenbach near Bern, Switzerland. That's where our founder, Frederick Belmont, was born. He later travelled to England and in 1919 opened the first Bettys. He filled it with continental specialities – a tradition we continue to this day.

  • 24 March 2020

    Easter favourites … but not as you know them

    Sometimes our curious bakers surprise even themselves. ‘What would happen,’ they wondered, ‘if we crossed a macaroon with a hot cross bun?’

  • 23 March 2020

    How we're keeping people safe

    The steps we're taking to keep customers and colleagues safe at this time.

  • 6 March 2020

    How we bake the perfect Mother's Day Cake


    Not only do we use ground almonds in our Mother’s Day Cake recipe to make it deliciously moist, but we’ve gathered together years of mum wisdom to ensure each cake bakes perfectly.

  • 4 March 2020

    ​A Mother’s Day mystery solved

    We all have our own Bettys favourites – those treats that you return to again and again, safe in the knowledge that they’ll be every bit as delicious as the last time. But what would your mum choose as her Bettys favourite?

  • 14 February 2020

    Film: Meet the new Rascal in the family!

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    How do our Gooey Rascals get that heavenly chocolate caramel centre? We think we've found the answer!

  • 12 February 2020

    Centenary Trees for Life Fund extended for an extra 12 months

    In 2019 we pledged £100,000 to tree-planting projects in Yorkshire as part of our centenary celebrations. Now we’re happy to announce that we’ve extended the Trees for Life Fund for a further year.