A Right Royal Rabbit Hole

You hear something on the radio, and it interests you, then a couple of days later someone blogs about it, and you decide you really should look this up, but you get sidetracked..and before you know it, you have fallen down the rabbit hole, and you end up discovering stuff you had not been looking for, and forgetting quite where it all began...

It began with Radio 4's Kitchen Cabinet.
The programme came from Bakewell, and there was much discussion about the difference between Bakewell Tart and Bakewell Pudding. Explanation here

On Saturday, Jean, a Derbyshire lass, posted all about the same topic- here is her splendid looking tart. She says that her Mum often made one for Sunday tea, and used her BeRo book. That sent me scurrying to check out my well used, stained 1982 copy.

You will notice that there are added comments- so many of the great ladies I have met at Church Teas use this little book. Gwen Toon - in Kirby Muxloe -advises soaking the milk before you make the Coconut and Orange Cake, and Betty [Dudman] of Ferndown added 1tsp vanilla to the Easy Fruit Cake. I think I put [Dudman] in brackets because there are so many ladies called Betty on Church Tea Rotas across the country! 

Then I started wondering, where did the name Be-Ro come from? It appears that Thomas Bell started a company producing flour, baking powder etc 150 years ago in Longhorsley near Newcastle. 

He called his brand "Bell's Royal". But there was confusion with another brand, so he shortened it to Be-Ro [and you thought Su-Bo, SamCam, J-Lo etc was a new idea]
And here is the other brand. Royal is owned now by Kraft foods. The distinctive tin has a Droste Effect recursive design.
The red tin shows a smaller picture of the red tin showing a smaller picture of the red tin, showing a smaller picture of the red tin...
In fact, if you stare at it for too long, it is just like falling down a right royal rabbit-hole. 
For £2.99 you can still buy a copy of the BeRo cookbook [here] now in its 41st edition. You can read the Royal Cookbook free online, at Project Gutenburg [here] This is an Americn Book. It does not include British delights like Bakewell Tart or Toad in the Hole - but you can find recipes for Penuche and Albuminized Orange, whatever they are!