King’s College, Cambridge was founded in 1441. Fitzwilliam College opened in 1966. This year the Cambridge artisan baker Fitzbillies is celebrating its 100th birthday.
There are two Fitzbillies at either end of Cambridge. The original shop in Trumpington Street and the new branch in Bridge Street.
Fitzbillies was founded in 1920 by Ernest and Arthur Mason, using their ‘demob’ money from the First World War. Their initials are still visible in faded gold letters on the shop front.
They were the sons of local baker ‘Ticker’ Mason, who had a shop further up Trumpington Street. It is now a newsagent. The Tickers specialised in fancy cakes, Chelsea buns and sponge cakes.
In 1991, mainly due to supermarkets, Fitzbillies went bankrupt for the first time but was bought out of receivership and relaunched. Then, in 1998 the premises were devastated by fire, and it took nearly two years to rebuild. The business kept going, baking offsite and selling Chelsea buns in the shop next door to the original, on the corner of Pembroke Street, where its coffee shop is now.
In 2011, Fitzbillies succumbed to difficult trading conditions and closed due to bankruptcy for the second time. Afyer “national treasure” Stephen Fry posted a lament to the Chelsea Buns on Alison Wright and FT food writer Tim Hayward stepped in.
Alison left her career as marketing director of a London insurance company to rescue and relaunch and eventually expand the famous bakery. Alison was born in Edinburgh, grew up in Cambridge and studied PPE at Oxford.
Throughout the year, she has been speaking at a series of events including the Cambridge Literary Festival and the Cambridge Food Festival, telling the story of the first 100 years of Fitzbillies. Signed copies of the book are available in their branches and online. Gill Abbs will remain in the kitchen.
Head Cake Baker Abbs joined Fitzbillies in 1971, fresh from her four year bakery apprenticeship and has been there ever since. She was hired by Mr Day, the second owner of Fitzbillies, specifically to make the famous Chelsea buns and he warned her that she would be the only woman in the bakery. She kept her job when the bakery burned down and after it was bought out of receivership.
In recent years Gill has focused on perfecting the art of the macaron. Fitzbillies sells thousands. She trains the new bakers and at Christmas she leads the baking of the traditional Christmas cakes, puddings and mince pies, commenting:
“The pastry is delicate with a very high proportion of butter, which gives it is shortbread-like taste and texture.
“Only a skilled baker with ‘good hands’ can manage it. It can’t be rolled on the automatic pastry roller that is used for other doughs – it is much too fragile and light. Last year we made 26,000, all by hand. We were delighted when they were given the highest rating of any mince pie by Which! Magazine and highly rated by Good Housekeeping.”
Enquiries are already coming in about pre-ordering the coveted pies, adding:
“They seem to ask earlier each year. We’re on our first run already. We make batches of 1,000 at a time, with four people gathered around one of our giant bakery tables: one to roll the pastry, that’s the most skilled job; one to cut the circles and put them in the foil cases; one to spoon the mincemeat and one to put the lids on. Then the trays of pies go into a rack which is wheeled into the oven, where it rotates while baking to ensure all the pies are an even light gold. When the pies come out of the oven, they are sprinkled with caster sugar and left to cool. A few are always swiped by the team and the others are packed up to go to our own branches, to local farm shops or to be posted out to our online customers.”
Fitzbillies mince pies are now available to order online, with 12 mince pies costing £18 plus postage and packing.
Gill shares a few Christmas baking tips:
“Start early. The last Sunday in November is known as Stir-Up Sunday, and it’s the day when traditionally you should ‘stir-up’ your Christmas cake and pudding. There is a lot to be said for getting ahead with Christmas baking as it will allow your cake or pudding time for the flavours to mature. It’s also a great idea to bake a giant batch of mince pies and freeze them to take out and warm through as you need them over the Christmas period.
“Decide what to bake yourself and what to buy in. You don’t have to bake everything yourself. Maybe save the fun, easier or quicker things to do yourself and buy the more complex or time consuming items, ideally from an artisan bakery where they will have made it as you would at home, with natural ingredients. I’d make some mince pies or gingerbread biscuits but buy my Christmas pudding.
“Make it a multi-generational activity. Once the school holidays start baking is a great way to keep kids busy. Even better if you can rope in grandparents to supervise. Pick something simple, but with lots of opportunity to get your hands in and play. How about vanilla or gingerbread cookies that can be rolled out, cut and then decorated, once baked, with icing and sprinkles. Or Christmas cupcakes, topped with miniature candy canes.
“Make it a tradition. If there is a favourite treat that you remember your grandparents or another family member making when you were a child, why not dig out the recipe and make it part of your own Christmas. It can be a great way to remember that person and keep traditions alive. My father loved a strange delicacy, marzipan potatoes, that his mother made at Christmas. They are little balls of marzipan dusted with cinnamon powder to resemble unpeeled potatoes. I’m a great marzipan lover so now I make them too, every Christmas Eve.
“Baking makes a great gift. If you’re visiting friends and family and want to take a little present, baking is the perfect answer. Everyone appreciates the personal touch and effort that goes into a homemade gift. A box of spiced biscuits, prettily wrapped with a bow works well. If they are not gobbled up on the spot they will keep well for a few days. My daughter Liberty, now 21, delighted and overwhelmed us last year by making no fewer the nine types of Scandinavian Christmas biscuits. We packed them up in boxes to take to all the relations.
“Christmas Eve is always a lovely day in our shops. The Head Porters from the nearby colleges come in to buy Chelsea buns as a Christmas Eve treat for their teams. Christmas is the only time when we are closed for two days in a row.”
Fitzbillies delivers throughout the UK. For more information and to place your order in time for Christmas, please visit: www.fitzbillies.com.
Author Bio:
Kevin Pilley is a former professional cricketer and chief staff writer of PUNCH magazine. His humour, travel, food and drink work appear worldwide, and he has been published in over 800 titles.
Photographs courtesy of Fitzbillies
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