British Bakery Classics: A Region-by-Region Guide

Britain does not have a single national bakery tradition so much as dozens of local ones. A morning roll in Glasgow, a stottie in Newcastle, a Belfast bap, a Welsh cake fresh off the bakestone and a Cornish pasty still warm from the oven are all "bread" or "baking", yet they have almost nothing in common beyond flour and heat. This guide travels the country bake by bake, explains what makes each one distinctive, and suggests what to look for when you find one in a bakery.

North West England

Eccles cake

A round of flaky or puff pastry filled with currants, butter and sugar, slashed on top and finished with a sugar glaze. Named after the town of Eccles near Manchester. A good one is crisp and shattering outside, with a sticky, buttery filling and a slight caramelised edge. Many traditional bakers eat it the Lancashire way, with a slice of crumbly Lancashire cheese.

Chorley cake

Its close neighbour from Chorley, about 20 miles away, but made with shortcrust pastry and much less sugar. It is flatter, plainer and more like a fruit-filled biscuit, and it pairs even better with cheese.

Yorkshire and the North East

Yorkshire curd tart

A shortcrust case filled with curd cheese, eggs, currants and a warm spice, traditionally allspice or nutmeg. It is lighter than cheesecake and slightly grainy by design. Look for a filling that is just set, not rubbery.

Parkin and fat rascals

Parkin is a dense, sticky ginger cake made with oatmeal and black treacle, eaten in autumn and around Bonfire Night. Fat rascals are rich, scone-like rock cakes studded with fruit and peel, often decorated with cherry and almond "faces".

Stottie cake

A large, flat, dense round loaf from the North East, traditionally baked on the oven floor. Split and filled with ham and pease pudding, it is a meal rather than a snack.

The Midlands

Bakewell pudding and Bakewell tart

In the Derbyshire town of Bakewell, the original is the pudding: puff pastry with a layer of jam under a rich egg and almond custard filling. The Bakewell tart most people know is a later variation: shortcrust pastry, jam and frangipane sponge, often iced and topped with a cherry. Both are good; just do not confuse them in Bakewell.

Melton Mowbray pork pie

A hand-raised, hot water crust pie filled with chopped, uncured pork, which is why the meat is grey rather than pink, and with bowed sides because it is baked without a supporting tin. The name has Protected Geographical Indication status, so only pies made within a defined area around Melton Mowbray to the traditional method can use it.

London and the South

Chelsea bun

A rich yeasted dough rolled up with currants, butter, sugar and spice, then baked close together so the buns pull apart with soft sides. The name comes from the Chelsea Bun House, which sold them in the eighteenth century. A good one is sticky on top, tender inside and generously fruited.

Bath bun and Sally Lunn

Bath gave Britain two buns. The Bath bun is a sweet, enriched bun topped with crushed sugar, sometimes hiding a sugar lump inside. The Sally Lunn is a large, light brioche-like bun served split, toasted and spread with butter or clotted cream.

Banbury cake

From Oxfordshire, an oval of flaky pastry around a spiced currant filling. Older and spicier than its Eccles cousin, and far rarer outside its home county.

The South West

Cornish pasty

The Cornish pasty has Protected Geographical Indication status. To use the name, it must be D-shaped and crimped along one side, filled with uncooked beef, swede, potato and onion, with a light peppery seasoning, and made in Cornwall, although it can be baked elsewhere. Look for a crisp, golden, slightly flaky crust and a filling that is juicy rather than gravy-filled.

Saffron buns and lardy cake

Cornish saffron buns are golden, gently spiced and fruited. Further east, lardy cake, associated especially with Wiltshire, layers bread dough with lard, sugar and dried fruit for a gloriously sticky, indulgent result.

Wales

Welsh cakes, or picau ar y maen, are small rounds of rich, currant-studded dough cooked on a bakestone or griddle and dusted with sugar. They should be soft and slightly crumbly with a lightly crisp outside. Bara brith, meaning "speckled bread", is a fruit loaf made with dried fruit soaked overnight in tea; the original was yeasted, and many modern versions use self-raising flour. Serve it sliced and buttered.

Scotland

A Scottish bakery counter has its own vocabulary. Morning rolls come soft and floury or with a crisp, well-fired top, and are the vehicle for a square sausage or bacon. Butteries, or rowies, from Aberdeen and the North East are flaky, salty, croissant-like rolls rich in fat. Tattie scones, thin griddled potato scones, are part of a full Scottish breakfast. And the Scotch pie, with its hot water crust and spiced mutton or beef, is a football-ground classic.

Northern Ireland

Ulster baking is built on the griddle and on soda. Soda farls are quarters of a round of soda bread cooked on a griddle; potato farls are made from mashed potato and flour. Both are fried for an Ulster fry. The Belfast bap is a large, floury roll with a dark, crusty top, and wheaten bread, a nutty brown soda bread, is served with almost everything.

Regional bakes at a glance

A note on protected names

Two of the bakes above, the Cornish pasty and the Melton Mowbray pork pie, carry Protected Geographical Indication status under the UK's geographical indication scheme. That means a bakery elsewhere can make a perfectly good beef and swede pasty or raised pork pie, but it should not sell it under the protected name. If you see "Cornish-style" or "traditional pork pie" on a label, that is usually why.

A note on calories at the bakery counter

Pain au chocolat is not British, but it is now on almost every British bakery counter, and how many calories it contains is one of the most common questions people ask about it. The honest answer is that size matters more than anything: a small supermarket pain au chocolat and a hefty artisan one can differ by more than 100kcal. The ranges below are rough guides based on typical sizes; check labels or ask the bakery where nutrition information is available.

Laminated pastries such as croissants and pain au chocolat are high in butter, which is what makes them good; fruit buns and griddle cakes tend to be lower per bite. None of this is a reason to avoid a regional classic you have travelled to try.

How to find the real thing

• Go local and go early. Traditional bakers in a bake's home town usually sell out of the best batches by late morning.
• Look for the unglamorous. The bakery that has made the same Eccles cakes or morning rolls for decades often beats a trendy reinterpretation.
• Ask what is baked on site. Many regional bakes are best within hours, and a bakery proud of its own baking will tell you.
• Buy two: one to eat now, one to compare tomorrow. It is the quickest way to learn what a bake should be like.