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Cherry Bakewells

Gregg Wallace is in Stoke-on-Trent at an enormous cherry bakewell factory, where they produce 250,000 of the little tarts a day.

Gregg Wallace is in Stoke-on-Trent at an enormous cherry bakewell factory where they produce 250,000 little tarts every day. He follows the production of cherry bakewells, from the arrival of 27 tonnes of flour right through to dispatch. Along the way, he learns what makes a shortcrust pastry ‘short’ and discovers the simple way they ensure every cherry is precisely placed. They employ a team of 12 who carefully pop each one on top by hand.

Meanwhile, Cherry Healey is learning how to swerve a soggy pastry bottom when baking pies and tarts at home. She discovers that it is all about a pre-heated oven, a proper pie dish, rolling the pastry to the correct thickness and blind baking. And she is at an almond butter factory, learning how almonds are roasted and milled to become a thick spread ready for toast.

Historian Ruth Goodman is sniffing out the origins of one of the cherry bakewell's key ingredients, frangipane. She learns that, surprisingly, the familiar fragrant almond filling was born out of a perfume used to disguise the foul smells of 17th-century Paris. She also visits the Peak District town of Bakewell and learns how the modern cherry bakewell is a descendent of a simple recipe mistake in the kitchen.

59 minutes

Last on

Thu 3 Aug 2023 21:00

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Music Played

  • Sigala

    Sweet Lovin (feat. Bryn Christopher, Sigala)

  • Years & Years

    Don't Panic

  • Snow Patrol

    Wild Horses

  • Eliza and the Bear

    Make It On My Own

  • Muse

    Something Human

  • Kongos

    Hey I Don't Know

  • Bob Marley & The Wailers

    Jamming

  • Chelcee Grimes

    Just Like That

  • Ed Sheeran

    You Need Me, I Don't Need You

  • Clean Bandit

    Rockabye

  • Clean Bandit

    Solo (feat. Demi Lovato)

  • Paloma Faith

    30 Minute Love Affair

  • Mumford & Sons

    Guiding Light

  • George Ezra

    Drawing Board

  • ABBA

    I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do

  • Axwell Λ Ingrosso

    On My Way

  • You Me at Six

    Back Again

  • Bad Sounds

    Wages

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Gregg Wallace
Presenter Cherry Healey
Presenter Ruth Goodman
Production Manager Samara Friend
Editor Matthew Reinders
Executive Producer Amanda Lyon
Executive Producer Sanjay Singhal
Series Producer Michael Rees
Production Company Voltage TV

Broadcasts

Learn more about the history of the factory and how it has evolved with an interactive from The Open University.

The fascinating stories behind the production of some of our favourite products.