Regular readers of my blog will know just how much I love Betty's. We often visit for a treat, and even my children know that if we go to Betty's, we always come home with cake! So when I was invited to preview the Betty's Christmas range, I was ecstatic. To top it off, the event was only a half hour drive from my house, which is pretty rare, but incredibly nice. I was so excited to see what Bettys have in store for Christmas, and now I get to share it all with you too. Enjoy!
Now, this might be out of most people's budget, but what an incredible inspirational Christmas table centrepiece. I am definitely going to try and recreate this, although I fear it may be an epic fail. Don't worry, I shall share the result, be it good or bad! If you want to buy the complete Betty's Swiss Alpine Village then it will set you back £500. It's made with 16 Swiss chalets, snowflakes and snow-topped fir trees, all hand decorated with royal icing.
We were all given a little gift from under the fabulous Betty's Christmas tree. I got a Christmas Chocolate Selection, which look incredible. I can't wait to try them. It did feel a little wrong unwrapping a Christmas gift in November though.
Robyn Cox, the Head of Beautiful (best job title ever?) at Bettys gave us some incredible inspiration for our Christmas tables with three main themes. He recommended checking out Pinterest for ideas too, but I think you don't need to look any further than his main three themes. My favourite is the Christmas Spice table below.
This table is inspired by the scents and smells of Christmas baking and delights. Honestly, it smelled amazing, and was so simple to put together. The theme is all about elegant gold tones, classic bone china and beautiful golden glass twinned with the delicious smells of pine, citrus and spice. I love the gold liqueur glasses so much. They're from John Lewis and would go really well in our dining room. I'm very tempted to buy them for Christmas!
The next theme was Continental Elegance. This harks back to Betty's Swiss heritage. The theme is simple and uses natural spruce along with Betty's chocolate animals and delicious biscuits and charming craft crackers to boot. For me, the place mats are a winner with this theme, and I love the decorated chalet in the bowl as an extra touch too.
The inspiration for the third table comes from the theme Winter Snow, with a frosty, cool flavour. The idea being that you adorn your table with crisp white linen, shimmering crockery and jingle bells. Bring in fresh foliage with garlands, bay leaves and Ivy. I think one of the main things that struck me about all three tables was the amount of foliage and decoration. It's definitely something I haven't used enough of before at Christmas.
Top of my Christmas list are these Salted Caramel Chocolates. A box of 18 (150g) costs £17.95. I am a little bit addicted to salted caramels, so I had better make sure Santa knows I want these in my stocking.
My children will be eyeing up these festive snowmen as a treat next time we pop into Bettys.
After viewing the new range, I was treated to Lady Betty Afternoon Tea, a special service which launched in 2015. It is available on only on certain days, at both Bettys in Harrogate and Bettys York. It is a reservation only afternoon tea, which is freshly made with the highest quality, seasonal ingredients, sourced locally whenever possible. It was truly the most incredible afternoon tea I have ever had.
The new menu is inspired by Bettys best loved pâtisserie and favourite Tea Rooms’ specialities, comprising: a scrumptious selection of sandwiches made with breads from the award-winning Craft Bakery, delicious savouries, two types of freshly baked, warm Scones, both Lavender and Sultana and an exquisite range of handmade miniature cakes. The perfect accompaniment to afternoon tea is to choose from a selection of rare and fine teas, especially sourced by Bettys own expert tea buyers.
Throughout our afternoon tea we were serenaded with music from the café pianist, who was absolutely incredible.
For more information on the Christmas range, or the tea rooms, check out www.bettys.co.uk
Last order date for delivery by Christmas is Wednesday the 21st December at12 noon. Don't leave it too late!
I've also put together a vlog of the afternoon, which includes so much more of the range. Check it out below.
The morning after my fabulous experience at Betty's, I woke to this outside my window! Thank you Betty's for getting me fulling into the festive spirit with a sprinkling of snow.
Disclosure: I was invited to have Lady Betty Afternoon Tea and view the Betty's Christmas range for the purpose of this review. All opinions in this post are my own.
