Bakery serving 'gorgeous' cakes tucked inside North Wales Spar shop
The Popty Tandderwen Bakery in Betws Y Coed was first established in 1989. The bakery is set up snugly in the local Spar shop along the busy A5.
Betws Y Coed is one of my favourite places to visit at any time of the year and the bakery window display alone was attracting a few tourists. Their extensive range of fresh bread, pies, sandwiches and cakes will get you drooling at first sight.
A queue of hungry customers appeared to be stripping the place bare of its cakes, pasties and fresh cream scones. We just stood there and gawped as we tried to make up our minds up on what sweet delights to choose.
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Popty prides itself on being able to source local ingredients whenever possible, as it aims to be a long-term sustainable bakery, which also supports other local producers through selling their goods in the Spar. There was a sign behind the counter with a menu of various fillings for your baps or sandwiches.
Baps and sarnies were priced from £2.75 whilst baguettes started at £3. Fillings included all the usual suspects such as egg mayo, ham, cheese and turkey to spicier fillings such as Cajun or chicken tikka.
They also offered breakfast baps, paninis and salad boxes along with an array of fresh bread of various sorts and sizes. The cakes on display were housed in various fridge display counters and looked as good to look at as a painting in the Louvre.
We stared at Bakewell tarts, cream eclairs and vanilla slices. I saw coconut and jam sponges, which reminded me of school dinners and there were various different versions of giant cookies that looked as big as a dustbin lid.
Who can resist a Biscoff doughnut? Well, not me it seems. The doughnut was made from a soft pillowy dough and was light as feather. The caramelised topping was sweet and there was a taste of gooey caramel in every bite.
The Biscoff crumb give a bit of texture but it was devoured before the crumbs had any chance to be honest. I dipped my doughnut into my hot chocolate like a detective in an American movie.
We also had a massive slab of a chocolate and orange tray bake. The thick heavy slice of cake weighed a ton and would have worked well as a door stopper. It tasted a bit like a Terrys chocolate orange but was dense and more satisfying. It was probably big enough for four people in truth and we managed to grab the last one in the shop.
We also picked a muesli flapjack as it looked nice but also because we kidded ourselves that is sounded healthy. I told my wife that it must be good for you as it contains porridge oats, raisins and cherries. I didn’t mention the delicious sticky syrup, which held it all together.
We went old school with our last choice of an egg custard. This classic bakery dessert was light and velvety smooth with a fresh, cool, creamy egg custard, baked in a crisp and buttery pastry shell. A truly scrummy simple pudding with a lovely yellow shade and a hint of nutmeg.
Those with a more savoury tooth could try one of the many pastries or steak pies on offer. There were spicy bean, feta and cheese or good old-fashioned cheese and onion on offer in the warming counter.
We bought our drinks from a real spirit of coffee vending machine, which was handily placed opposite the cakes. The drinks were priced at £2 each with a strong-tasting coffee and a really nice hot chocolate, which was much better than the usual fare that these machines dish out.
You basically take all the wrapped-up cakes with the drinks to a separate counter near the door to pay your dough. The service was flawless and fast despite the queues and certain people like myself not being able to make their mind up re: what to buy.
We ate our cakes on the wall next to the playing fields in glorious autumn sunshine. We wondered to ourselves if life can get any better than this.