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No mercy in Bakewell for those who fake well

By Johanna Gibson, David Pearce, Jeremy Phillips and Ilanah Simon.

The IPKat failed to notice earlier in the month this piece in the Telegraph. It seems that a group of cake lovers, led by the owner of the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop, are petitioning the EU (surely that should be DEFRA?) to grant the Bakewell Pudding protection as a geographical indication. The Bakewell consists of pastry, jam and almond filling and is reputed to have been created by accident in the 19th Century.

Said Ms Pheasy, owner of the shop:

"We want to protect the pudding's heritage...We are declaring what our recipe is, what goes into it, how it is made, taste, shape, colour, everything, just to specify this is how it is made."

The IPKat (whose culinary skills extend only to that other geographical cake - the Linzer Torte) isn't impressed. Every cake cookbook worth its salt has a recipe for the Bakewell (as does Mr Kipling), so it seems a bit late to specify the exact requirements of its 'heritage'. On a more philosophical note, surely evolution of the recipe is part of its heritage too?

Full post as published by IPKat on August 27, 2008 (boomark / email).