FAQs
A cob, a roll, a bun, a barm, a batch, a bap – it's just flour, yeast, salt, and water, but the country seems to be overflowing with different names for the humble morsel.
Why do British people call buns baps? ›
While “cob” seems to describe the most basic version of a bun, a “bap” is a common bun that is made with butter or lard. This makes the roll softer than your usual bun. Also, according to lovefood.com, “bap” is a popular term for bun in London, northeast England, Northern Ireland, and much of south Wales.
What do northerners call a bap? ›
'Bun' was the favourite of the North East, while 'bap' dominated in north Wales. Other parts of the north of England were divided up into a patchwork of different labels.
What is another name for a barm cake? ›
A strong baking tradition across Britain means there are many sizes and types of plain wheat bread rolls – and they their own names, depending on the region. In bakeries you can find the local speciality. This could be a barm cake, bread-cake, bap, batch, bun, buttery, muffin, cob, oven bottom, roll or stotty.
Why are they called barm cakes? ›
“That name is based on the days before commercial yeast. Bakers had what was called a barm; a bucket of flour and water that became their fermented yeast. This is what they'd bake a barm cake with, and which is essentially what people are now using to make their sourdough.”
What does BAPS mean in Ireland? ›
Noun. bap (plural baps) A soft bread roll, originally from Scotland. burger bap. (British, Ireland, slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
What do Scottish people call BAPS? ›
Baps are a traditional breakfast bread in Scotland, where they are sliced lengthwise and filled with a fried egg and a couple of strips of bacon, or used for a sausage sandwich.
What is a BAPS slang? ›
British vulgar, slang. a woman's breasts. Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. What is this an image of?
What is a bap in London slang? ›
A “bap" is a Northern colloquial description of a round flat portion of bread. Also known as barm cake, barm, bread bun etc. Not to withold any and all useage of this word also used as derogatory description of women's breasts.
What do Londoners call a bread roll? ›
a bread roll may also be called a bap. a barm a batch a bun. a cob a muffin and a tea cake. as a Londoner.
barmcake (plural barmcakes) (UK) A barm (bread roll). (UK) A foolish person.
What is an Irish bap? ›
A Belfast bap is a large crusty white bread roll that originates from Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is best known today as the bread in a breakfast sandwich, but can be eaten as a regular sandwich bap.
What is the difference between a muffin and a barm cake? ›
There is differences in texture, baking style, and thickness. A bap or barmcake can be up to two inches thick. A traditional Oven Bottom Muffin, up to an inch thick at least.
Who invented the barm cake? ›
The pasty barm consists of a buttered barm cake with a (standard meat and potato) pasty as the filling. A pasty barm ready to be eaten. The snack was supposedly invented by Bolton schoolboys in the 1950s as a "cheap dinner".
What is the pie in a barm cake? ›
Wigan, England
Enter the pie barm, a meat pie sandwiched between a buttered roll. The roll in question is known as a “barm cake,” which means it was leavened with barm (the foam at the top of any fermented beverage, usually beer).
What is a barm in British slang? ›
In various English dialects “barm” means “yeast”. In several places it's also used as an abbreviation of “barm cake”, which refers to a small soft-crusted white bread roll or bun (leavened with barm).
What is a barm? ›
Barm, also called ale yeast, is the foam or scum formed on the top of a fermenting liquid, such as beer, wine, or feedstock for spirits or industrial ethanol distillation. It is used to leaven bread, or set up fermentation in a new batch of liquor.
What is the difference between bap and BLAA? ›
Blaas are sometimes confused with a similar bun known as a bap; however, blaas are square in shape, softer, and doughier, and are most notably identified by the white flour shaken over them before the baking process.