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Crumpets versus muffins

  • Thread starter Thread starter Beryl M
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Beryl M

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In Canada those round doughy things with holes in are called crumpets or muffins - my mom always called them pikelets - Is that what they are still called?
 
:angel: Beryl if you put 'pikelets' in to the blue search bar at the top of the page, you will get a number of hits on this very subject including recipes :cool:
 
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I will never never ever call them by any other name than PIKELETS....crumpets and muffins are for the posh......
 
They are called crumpets here in the northwest. I had to change the way i asked for them when i moved here, bakers had never heard of pikelets
 
That's interesting i thought my mom had made the name pikelet up!
 
I still call them pikelets. I haven't opened up any of the links about them but I remember the name pikelets came from the fact that the sellers of these goodies in the last century or even ones before that, used to stroll around the markets with them impaled on a small pike and slide them off on request to purchasers. No one would call them pikelets here in this part of Canada. They are called muffins but then so are the small cake like goodies and also another type of muffin which is not sweetened and can be toasted. Very confusing really.
 
you can take it as gospel beryl they are called piklets
they have been called that since the word dot
my mother was buying then right through the war years
and since i was ababby
has some-one said it,s omly the so called posh -ones ,
i don,t call them posh , i call them whoffed, ers ,
who call them muffins
still i surpose we have to move with the times of todays lingo
me; i,m still olf fashioned and i still used the old saying,
i do not use metric measures , still feet and inches,
i still say ,the east midland hospital , instead of the heartlands ,
city hospital , in my mind is dudley road hospital still
and i will always refer to them as that
why do we have to change , ? , for society ,
 
Just took a gander at the Oxford Disctionary
Crumpet: Soft flat yeasty 'cake' toasted or buttered.
Muffin: Light flat round spongy 'cake' eaten toasted or buttered. Also makes reference to that muffin, Jenny Ann referred to in the States.
Now that flat, hole infested, round item I love to put under the grill and flood with butter, is not a 'cake' so therefore you can take it from Will - It is a pikelet
 
jennyann said:
I still call them pikelets. I haven't opened up any of the links about them but I remember the name pikelets came from the fact that the sellers of these goodies in the last century or even ones before that, used to stroll around the markets with them impaled on a small pike and slide them off on request to purchasers. No one would call them pikelets here in this part of Canada. They are called muffins but then so are the small cake like goodies and also another type of muffin which is not sweetened and can be toasted. Very confusing really.
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But still very nice Jennyann:)
 
The muffins we get here we slit in the middle and make mini pizzas with them occasionally.
I used to like Pikeletes toasted on the end of a long fork over the coal fire and then spread with butter and jam. I have tried them a few times in the last few years and find them very heavy now, maybe doing them in the toaster just doesn't work so well. I think Pikeletes are called crumpets here. I must look at them in the store today. :) Mo
 
I used to like pikelets-crumpets toasted on a long fork - But forget the jam.

Does any one remember those cottage loaves - Do you still have them over there - That was my favourite bread - a slice toasted in front of the fire beat all your cream cakes
 
We have Toast most Saturday evenings,it use to be the same on Saturdays in Aston, we are lucky to have a coal fire here in Suffolk and the Lads still love it how ever old they get. The unlucky one gets his hands warmed:)
 
I think the British Pikelet is called an English Muffin in Ontario. Thats what they are called at McDonalds anyway. If you get the Big Breakfast it includes one of these with butter and jam that you apply yourself. The Pikelet is the best part. Actually one 'Big Breakfast' does both me and my wife. You've guessed it....she eats the Pikelet, leaving the rest for me. Hmmm. I dont know though, Pikelet is not an attractive sounding name. It kind of sounds like a baby fish. A bit 'off putting' for breakfast. Maybe that is the reason for the name change here. I remember toasting bread by a coal fire. No one had an electric toaster in those days. Or kettle for that matter. Well, you can't do these tasks and listen to Dick Barton or the Archers at the same time from one electrical outlet can you. We used to toast chestnuts at times too. No coal now. I think there is a supply of decent stuff left somewhere in Montreal for model steam train enthusiasts.
Toasting these days is performed at camp sites around a log fire, with marshmallows and sausages (weiners) on a stick. Oh and popcorn. It was fun seeing the kids and the dog sitting around the camp fire waiting for things to develop. Just the dog and the two of us now and whatever is out there in the darkness waiting for the fire to die down. Wish I had a few Thunder Flashes on hand, just in case. The fire is begining to dwindle a bit.
 
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You have just reminded me I remember when I was young my mom had a long fork and used to do toast in front of the fire then put dripping and salt on it delicious.
 
It's the jelly under the dripping that tastes good. Probably completely off the cholestorol chart these days.
 
Fire toasted bread is delicious and I remember us doing the same at home
years ago mostly on Saturdays after the pictures during the winter months. Great that you can still have a coal fire Alf. We used to cut our bread in thicker slices, doorsteps really, for toasting. We had dripping sometimes as well.

Loved the campfire scenario Rupert. Your mind can wander when you look beyond the campfie especially if you are in a wooded area. We always had to buy marshmallows and weiners when we went camping. Happy memories
of those times as well as the home fire toast.

I can remember our first toaster it had sides that came down and you fitted the bread slices into each side and flipped them up. Inside was a heating mechanism that toasted the bread. The main drawback was if you didn't keep an eye on the toaster it would burn the bread and fill the kitchen with smoke!
 
Rupert - The English muffins we buy in the stores here or you have at McDonald's are not the same as Pikeletes. English Muffins you can slit in the middle and are smooth, here any way. Pikeletes are quite hard, have holes on one side and are slightly browned on the other side and don't split in the middle. When you put butter and jam on them after they have been toasted it all sinks into the holes.
Next time you are at No Frills they usually have the muffins and pikeletes on the same stand in the bakery goods by the hot cross buns. I think the pikeletes are called crumpets here but I'm not sure.:)
Beryl - I had forgotten cottage loaves, I loved pulling the top off and then slicing the two halves. I wonder whether they still make them.
 
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I digress but I blame Sakura. When visiting China we had a cottage loaf with the top and its innards removed and filled with mushroom soup. The lid was then repalced on top of it. Oh I can still taste it.
Now if the Chinese can do that to the simple cottage loaf what chance have we to compete with them. Still they did not have pikelets on the menu - expect that is for next year now!
Will.
 
I will take you back on track Will and make your mouth water. These are what we in N.America call muffins as well. I am not sure what they are called in Britain.:rolleyes:
Either of these sometimes have cream cheese icing on them.
View attachment 6859 Banana Muffin.
View attachment 6860 Carrot Muffin with icing.
Regarding the soup - Tim Hortons Donut Shop - was doing soup in a bread bowl as you describe, I am not sure whether they are doing it at the moment. We have 13 within 5klm. of our house, very popular here, plus other donut shops.:)

Have a nice Easter. Mo
 
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Yup...eating and weight reduction are the booming sectors around here. One to put it on, the other to take it off and in between government employees doing research to tell us we are all overweight. These are the thousands of jobs we are told that are being created. The government gets to tax all three whilst only paying one group. Still I suppose if we are invaded, we can pepper the enemy with Timbits.
 
They are called Muffins Sakura8)

I used to love them but can't now I'm diabetic, my Sister when she visited brought about 6 Doz for the Kids and us, but she hasn't been for years :(
 
Thanks Alf I don't remeber them being called that 30 years ago, were they? I think we called them cup cakes, maybe this sort were not sold in the stores then.
They look nice but I rarely have one at the coffee shop they are too sweet and too big. We find we are more likely to have them when we are traveling. My favourite, here we go side tracking, are raisin tea biscuits as they call them here or scones. Tim Hortons are nice and not so sweet as a muffin.:) Mo
 
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Our Cup cakes were and still are small sponge cakes covered with Chocolate Iceing Sugar in a cake case
 
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Personally I will stick with crumpets and scones - not much of a sweet tooth - but i like butter
 
Yes, that is how I remember them too Alf, glad some things stay the same. They are the same in the stores here. I have just made some lemon muffins and a cake for Easter, they will have a little butter icing on top and some Cadbury's bird's eggs. Trifle is another favourite we always have at any holiday time.:) Mo
 
think I have changed my mind - and taste Maureen's trifle - Is there fruit in it???
 
There sure is Beryl, if our daughter wasn't here there would be sherry as well. At Christmas we always get together with some English and European friends and I know what they will want me to take. It has to have sherry in it though.:) Mo
View attachment 6871
 
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