It always amuses me whenever I see this type of 'cake/muffin' described as being 'English Breakfast Muffins'.
I'm English and the first time I'd ever seen these, described in this way, was in the USA. I grew up knowing these as 'fairy cakes' and they were frequently served at children's Birthday Parties or for adults at Afternoon Tea. The very large version, I've always thought of as being 'American Muffins'.
To me, 'muffins' were the flattened bread rolls similar to the ones that Mcdonalds use for their McMuffins.
They're certainly the ones that are referred to in the English song 'Do you know the Muffin Man, who lives in Drury Lane? '
It also looks to me like the large, flat round cake may be cornbread. Certainly are no "English muffins" shown!
nlbuchanan
Jun 4, 2019
The ones McDonald's uses are what I call "English Muffins". And when purchased in a store they are Packaged as "English Muffins". I have never heard of these being called such. These have always been just "muffins" to me. I wonder if the "English Muffin
breakfast" might refer to the English eating a breakfast of muffins? Never having been to England, I can only speculate. In any event, we Americans do have strange ways of portraying other cultures at times! God bless you, olliebeak1951.
manatee
Jun 5, 2019
If it helps any, they have removed the "English" from the puzzle title. The flattened bread rolls you called muffins are what is sold as English Muffins in the U.S. as nlbuchanan says, so at least we've got that right.
What you describe as "fairy cakes" might be what the U.S. calls "cupcakes". More than these muffins, they are like mini cakes and would be served at birthday parties or receptions. The kind of muffins shown here are less sweet and bit more healthy, with fruit baked in them, or bran or other whole grains, are our breakfast type of muffins.
The big round flat thing in this picture might be a big breakfast cake or muffin cake, made from the same types of things as the little ones, minus the blueberries. I would say cornbread too but it doesn't look yellow enough.
It's funny the differences in British and American names for things. Took me a while to figure out the biscuit/cookie thing. And the scones still have me confused. Then there's "tea". From some of the British TV shows it looks to be a full dinner at times, and just tea and biscuits at other times.
olliebeak1951
Jun 5, 2019
We have 'tea breaks' when working - usually just a cup of tea or coffee plus a couple of biscuits (cookies) - that last approx 20minutes.
Then we have 'Afternoon Tea' which usually consists of a small variety of sandwiches, perhaps a buttered scone with jam/cream and a couple of cakes - this is usually around 3.00pm but wouldn't be immediately followed by an evening meal until a bit later, possibly around 8.00pm. Sometimes this can turn into a 'special occasion' and these days can involve a bottle of Prosecco, or even Champagne.
In the North of England, the early evening meal (around 5.00-6.00pm) is very often referred to as 'tea'. It's not usually a 'formal type of meal'. Sometimes young children would be given 'their tea' with parents eating their own meal a bit later - perhaps after younger children have gone to bed.
I agree that sometimes we British often confuse ourselves ;-).
manatee
Jun 6, 2019
That makes sense. The family in the TV show I saw must have been from the north, called it "Tea", and it was mom & dad eating together, normal dinner-type meal. And another household on the same show was having little sammies, earlier in the day, like what you describe as Afternoon Tea.
We Americans confuse ourselves too, with different regions having different customs and different names for the same things, such as "soda", "pop" and "dope", all meaning the same thing.
I'm English and the first time I'd ever seen these, described in this way, was in the USA. I grew up knowing these as 'fairy cakes' and they were frequently served at children's Birthday Parties or for adults at Afternoon Tea. The very large version, I've always thought of as being 'American Muffins'.
To me, 'muffins' were the flattened bread rolls similar to the ones that Mcdonalds use for their McMuffins.
They're certainly the ones that are referred to in the English song 'Do you know the Muffin Man, who lives in Drury Lane? '
breakfast" might refer to the English eating a breakfast of muffins? Never having been to England, I can only speculate. In any event, we Americans do have strange ways of portraying other cultures at times! God bless you, olliebeak1951.
What you describe as "fairy cakes" might be what the U.S. calls "cupcakes". More than these muffins, they are like mini cakes and would be served at birthday parties or receptions. The kind of muffins shown here are less sweet and bit more healthy, with fruit baked in them, or bran or other whole grains, are our breakfast type of muffins.
The big round flat thing in this picture might be a big breakfast cake or muffin cake, made from the same types of things as the little ones, minus the blueberries. I would say cornbread too but it doesn't look yellow enough.
It's funny the differences in British and American names for things. Took me a while to figure out the biscuit/cookie thing. And the scones still have me confused. Then there's "tea". From some of the British TV shows it looks to be a full dinner at times, and just tea and biscuits at other times.
Then we have 'Afternoon Tea' which usually consists of a small variety of sandwiches, perhaps a buttered scone with jam/cream and a couple of cakes - this is usually around 3.00pm but wouldn't be immediately followed by an evening meal until a bit later, possibly around 8.00pm. Sometimes this can turn into a 'special occasion' and these days can involve a bottle of Prosecco, or even Champagne.
In the North of England, the early evening meal (around 5.00-6.00pm) is very often referred to as 'tea'. It's not usually a 'formal type of meal'. Sometimes young children would be given 'their tea' with parents eating their own meal a bit later - perhaps after younger children have gone to bed.
I agree that sometimes we British often confuse ourselves ;-).
We Americans confuse ourselves too, with different regions having different customs and different names for the same things, such as "soda", "pop" and "dope", all meaning the same thing.