Teabridge Constabulary has launched an investigation after the town’s closely guarded Royal Crumpet Recipe was stolen just one day before the Great Teabridge Bake-Off.
The handwritten recipe, regarded by local bakers as one of Teabridge’s most important culinary treasures, was discovered missing during final preparations at the Parish Hall on Thursday morning.
Organisers say the recipe had been secured with the other competition documents the previous evening.
By morning, it was gone.
No other recipes appear to have been taken.
The timing has caused alarm across Teabridge, which is due to defend its title tomorrow as the town with the “Least Soggy Bottom” — an honour it has held for five consecutive years.
The Royal Crumpet has played a central role in each of those victories.
Bake-Off organiser Patricia Wainscott described the disappearance as “an absolute catastrophe”.
“This is not simply a missing piece of paper,” she said. “That recipe is the reason Teabridge has gone five years without presenting a soggy bottom to a judge. Tomorrow is the competition. We have less than twenty-four hours.”
Police officers attended the Parish Hall and examined the preparation area, where flour, mixing bowls and baking equipment had already been laid out for the competition.
Teabridge Constabulary has not confirmed how the recipe was removed or whether the theft was deliberately intended to sabotage Teabridge’s chances.
There were no obvious signs of forced entry.
A police spokesperson said: “We are investigating the theft of the Royal Crumpet Recipe and are asking anyone who was in or around the Parish Hall overnight to contact us.”
Organisers have confirmed that the Great Teabridge Bake-Off will still take place tomorrow as planned.
What remains considerably less certain is whether Teabridge can defend its five-year title without the recipe that helped secure it.