Bettys Happy 100 Year Anniversary!

On July 17, 2019, Bettys officially turned to 100 year old. It was the day of 100 years ago when a Swiss Swiss baker and confectioner, Fritz Bützer, who later changed his name to Frederick Belmont in England, opened his first shop's door in Harrogate. The original location was on Cambridge Crescent, very close to the current location on Parliament Street. The story of Fritz's life from tragic events to success of business and his personality (see Bettys website for the details), are touching and encouraged me. Today Bettys is still very popular. There is almost always a long waiting line at the entrance around lunch time!

As a big fan of Bettys, I stopped by their Harrogate shop on the special day and bought a couple of sweets, more precisely a raspberry frangipane tart and a chocolate eclair for our tea time after dinner. When I was making a payment, the staff who was at the casher told me about a special offer at the cafe and tea room. Aha, luckily I had time for tea and there was a table available at the cafe space. I ordered "tea room blend" tea and a Centenary afternoon tea miniature cake set. When a server brought my orders, she also gave me a complimentary cake in a paper bag. That was a special offer!

When I left the cafe, a filming team (probably BBC) was getting ready in front of the shop for action. It looked like a pretty busy day for Bettys! At home, I found that the complimentary cake was a Fondant Fancy -  made from delicate Genoese sponge cake, sandwiched with buttercream and raspberry preserve, covered with a layer of soft marzipan and then coated in a shiny coat of pink or ivory fondant icing and individually decorated with pretty flowers. Mine was a ivory version. After dinner, we had a lovely tea time with three kinds of sweets.

Happy Birthday, Bettys!