Category: British

Summer Pudding

Summer pudding is a British summer tradition that I, as an anglophile, love to make as often as I can during the short-lived berry season. The pudding must be kept overnight in the fridge, but it’s easy to make—requiring only three ingredients and a little prep—and impressive to serve. If white bread isn’t your thing,…


Hong Kong Judiciary Says British Judge to Step Down From City’s Top Court

HONG KONG—British judge Brenda Hale will step down from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal next month when her three-year term expires, the judiciary said on Friday, a move that may deepen uncertainty over the role of foreign judges in the semi-autonomous city. The departure of Hale, a former president of Britain’s Supreme Court, comes…


European Airlines Cancel Tel Aviv Flights Amid Escalating Conflict

LONDON—British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Iberia all canceled flights to Tel Aviv as European carriers joined U.S. airlines in avoiding flying to Israel amid an escalating conflict there. “The safety and security of our colleagues and customers is always our top priority, and we continue to monitor the situation closely,” British Airways said after canceling…


Chocolate Chain Thorntons to Close UK Stores, 600 Jobs at Risk

LONDON—Thorntons, the 110-year-old British chocolatier and retailer, said on Monday it would permanently close all 61 UK stores, putting 603 jobs at risk, blaming the impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Multiple lockdowns in Britain have heaped pressure on store-based retailers already struggling with tight margins and intense competition from purely online players. Thorntons, which was…


HSBC ‘Aiding Crackdown on Democracy,’ British Lawmakers Say

LONDON—HSBC is “aiding and abetting one of the biggest crackdowns on democracy in the world,” British lawmaker Chris Bryant told the bank’s chief executive Noel Quinn on Tuesday in a hearing over its freezing of Hong Kong democrats’ bank accounts. The CEO’s summons to face the cross-party Foreign Affairs Committee came after former Hong Kong…


Chelsea Buns

Chelsea buns were sold in The Chelsea Bun House in London as far back as 1711. They may be considered the first sweet confection that people ever queued for in masses, just to get their hands on a bun or two. It might not be as modern as a cronut or a freakshake, but the…


Regula Ysewijn: Preserving the Pride and History of British Baking

Most of us can look at our lives and careers and point to something that shaped their trajectory: important, eye-opening moments, special events, influential people. For Regula Ysewijn, it was a nursery rhyme: White swans, black swans, Will you sail to England with me? England is locked The key is broken And there is no…


Bakewell Tart

In Bakewell you’ll find a bakery on every street corner, each claiming they bake the one and only original Bakewell pudding that made the little Peak District town famous. Who actually invented the Bakewell pudding? According to the most popular story, the Bakewell pudding originated around 1850 when the maid of the local Rutland Arms…


Clapcake

Clapcake, clapbread, or havercake from Cumbria, northern England, and clap scones from Scotland, resemble the thin crispbread we usually associate only with Scandinavia. “The Diary of Celia Fiennes” from 1698 tells us how these clapcakes were made in Cumbria: They mix their flour with water, so soft as to rowle it in their hands into…


British Model and Fashion Muse Stella Tennant Dies at Age 50

LONDON—Stella Tennant, the aristocratic British model who was a muse to designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Gianni Versace, has died suddenly at the age of 50, her family said Wednesday. Tennant, the granddaughter of a duke, rose to fame in the 1990s while walking the runway for designers including Versace and Alexander McQueen. In…