Of course we all know why Bakewell is famous don’t we? Its because of the tart, right? Wrong. DO NOT whatever you do, go into a shop in Bakewell and ask for a tart. You’ll get into terrible trouble. The Bakewell tart has nothing to do with Bakewell. It is an imposter invented by the dastardly Mr Kipling in the twentieth century.

Bakewell is famous for the Bakewell Pudding, which originally came about like most great inventions – as legend has it – by a happy accident. Supposedly a cook at the White Horse Inn (which sadly no longer exists) was told to make a jam tart but instead of adding the egg and almond paste mixture to the pastry she placed it on top of the jam and it set. The resulting dish was served anyway and proved to be a big hit with the early nineteenth century diners at the inn, in spite of the fact that it looks not dissimilar to a cowpat (in this author’s humble opinion only).

There are no less than three shops in Bakewell which claim to have the original, original recipe. My personal favourite is the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop with its wonderful sunken window that looks as if it has been there since long before anyone started messing about with jam tarts.