'Cupcake' instead of fairy cake or bun

My Scottish mother was pleased when my Nottinghamshire grandma described me as 'bonny' when I was a young child. Unfortunately 'bonny' in Nottingham-speak means fat and not pretty like my mum thought!

The first time I heard of barm cakes was an early episode of Coronation Street. The raincoat factory would send out an order to the corner shop. I hadn't a clue what they were talking about and wondered why they didn't have a bread roll for lunch instead.
DH is from Yorkshire and MIL used to talk about baked potatoes when she was referring to the Sunday roast. I thought she meant jacket potatoes. I also thought she was being critical when she described me as being 'fussy' when DD1 was born. I didn't know at the time that fussy meant proud.

Pikelets in Nottingham (my hometown). They were about 4" in diameter and just a bit less than an inch deep and all holey and pale on the top, but with brown base. Here in Fife they are 'crumpets'.....and are pre-packed (yuck)! However, fresh 'crimpets' can also be found at the bakers and they are thin and floppy. There used to be a pikelet factory at the end of our road when we lived in Nottingham in the 70's. It was no more than a large shed, .....ah....the memories!

Just checked and, as I suspected, 'barm' is from an Old English word via Danish. North Lancs dialect heavily influenced by Danish Viking language. Looks as if they got into Cheshire as well, nag. Plenty of good sailable rivers – Lune, Wyre, Ribble, Mersey – and not such a long way from Dublin and other Viking strongholds .

That's the same definition of cobs and barm cakes that we had in Cheshire where I grew up, Bags. Try asking for a barm cake in Wales and they don't know what you mean!

Milk loaves, anyone?

Cobs and barm cakes were two different things in north Lancs where I grew up. A barm cake is a flat, soft bread roll with a thumb-made imprint made in the centre of the dough before baking, and a cob is a larger piece of dough, oval shaped, often scored, and with a slightly crispy crust.

I thought cob was a method of building? Manure!

My Zimbabwean soon to be son in law always laughs like a drain when we ask him if he'd like a cob.

We had cobs in Derbyshire too Nellie but my Nan, from Lancashire, made barm cakes and oven bottoms (??). My posh granny, also in Derbyshire, called them bread rolls!

jeni, it isn't a virtual Waitrose....

Pikelet crumpets whatever. Look at all the words for plain bread "cobs." (that from Leicester. There are Baps, Barm cakes, Bread cakes and I am sure you can all provide many more. Arn't local English dialects wonderful!

Pick some up for me! If they're virtual they can't be fattening. Can they

Must pop down the road to Waitrose ...... right now!

All the time Annobel, as my figure will testify! Come to think of it, DS is getting a bit porky too

All the time, nightowl?

We eat toated teacakes all the time in my house. My 23 yr old DS, home from uni for the summer, is addicted to them. It's a taste handed down from their darling granny, my mum, along with bread and jam!

and shortbread!

They do a nice toasted teacake at the River Museum at Henley riverside.

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Toasted teacake available in the restaurant at my local garden centre. When I used to drive home from Dundee, I tried to reach the village of Broughton in the Borders in time for elevenses at a delightful tearoom which served perfect toasted teacakes. Sadly this is not an option when travelling by train.

jeni We have an old-fashioned tea shop in the centre of town (it also serves excellent coffee) and Mr absent and I sometimes go there for tea and toasted tea cakes when we think we deserve a treat.

We used both terms interchangeably for the thick ones. One of my nephews was called Pikelet by his parents when he was wee too.

On a slightly different , but related, note. When did you last have a toastes tea cake?

Gary(font of all knowledge) says he's allways known pike lets as thin crumpets!

interesting answers here

Think it might be a North/South thing.