English muffin is a small, round, and flat bread that's made from a soft yeasted dough. Once shaped into rounds, either by hand or with crumpet rings, the English muffin is baked on a griddle. Before toasting, they are halved, and once toasted, they're buttered, then served for breakfast with sweet or savory toppings.
These muffins are an essential part of eggs Benedict. It's not recommended to use a knife to cut them in half – most cooks agree that they should be split with a fork and gently pulled apart in order to create a surface with small peaks and craters, which gives them a crunchy texture and provides many pockets for jam and butter.
MOST ICONIC English muffin
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Huffkins are traditional English bread rolls originating from Kent. These rolls are flat, circular to oval, with a dimple in the center. They're made with flour, water, yeast, and a bit of lard, although modern recipes sometimes call for the addition of milk powder.
Once baked, the rolls develop a pale crust, white crumb, thin crust, and a light and open texture. After baking, the huffkins are traditionally wrapped in a cloth in order to prevent the crust from hardening. It's recommended to fill the hole on top with cherries or jam.
MOST ICONIC Kentish huffkins
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Bath bun is a traditional sweet bread roll originating from Bath. The buns are circular, with nib sugar and caraway seeds on top of their highly glazed exterior. The texture is dense and close, while the flavor is lightly spiced and sweetened, with lump sugar underneath.
The milk-based yeasted dough for Bath buns is usually based on plain brioche dough or rich egg and butter dough with caraway seeds. Although there are disputes about the origins of these buns, the ones made from a recipe dating back to 1679 are still available in the town of Bath.
MOST ICONIC Bath bun
Barm cake is a traditional bread roll originating from North West England. These soft rolls are usually topped with flour before baking, and in the past, they were usually leavened with barm, the residue that forms during yeast fermentation when making lager or ale.
Nowadays, most barm cakes are made with regular yeast, flour, milk, water, salt, and sometimes lard. Barm cakes are often filled with chips or served as an accompaniment to fish and chips. They can be found in most fish and chip shops in the region.
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HAWKSHEAD WIGS ARE UNFORTUNATELY EXTINCT. IF YOUR SHOP MAKES OR OFFERS HAWKSHEAD WIGS, CONTACT US AT editorial@tasteatlas.com
Hawkshead wig is a traditional bread roll originating from Hawkshead in Cumbria. These bread rolls are usually made with a combination of flour, yeast, water, and lard.
The dough is mixed with caraway seeds, shaped into ovals, and the tops are then brushed with milk and sugar before baking. Once baked, the rolls should be golden with a shiny top and thick in the middle. They have been connected with Lent in the past, while some connect them with Christmas, particularly in Shrewsbury.
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