Bakewell

Bakewell is the only market town within the Peak District National Park boundary and its attractive courtyards, independent shops, cafés and its location on the River Wye make it a hugely popular destination for tourists to the Peak District.

 

 Rutland Arms, overlooking the town square and built in 1804. Jane Austen stayed here in 1811 and in Pride and Prejudice she has Elizabeth Bennet stopping here to meet the Darcys and Mr Bingley. However the Rutland Arms' chief claim to fame is as the place where the Bakewell Pudding (Bakewell has never heard of tarts) was invented by a chef of 1859 who made a mistake.

 

It is claimed that the recipe was originally something of an accidental invention of the 1860s, the result of a misunderstanding between Mrs Graves, Mistress of the Inn, and her kitchen assistant. A noblemen visiting the White Horse Inn (now called The Rutland Arms)ordered a strawberry tart. Mrs Graves, asked an inexperienced kitchen assistant to make a strawberry tart. But the assistant, however, made a non sweet pastry.

The result was so successful with the guest that the recipe became recognised as the Bakewell Pudding. Mrs Wilson, wife of a Tallow Chandler who lived in the cottage now known as The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop where candles were made, saw the possibility of making the puddings for sale and obtained the so-called recipe and commenced in a business of her own.   This claim is almost certainly spurious, as the pudding was by then already well-known, and its antecedents can be traced back to medieval times.

It is a contention of local history that the secret recipe for the Bakewell Pudding was left by Mrs Graves in her will to a Mr Radford, In turn Mr Radford passed the recipe on to Mr Bloomer. There is still a Bloomers Shop in Bakewell that makes and sells Bloomers Original Bakewell Puddings ®.

taken from bakewell online/documents/the history of bakewell pudding