Barmcakes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Soft, round bread rolls typically served warm and often filled with savory or sweet ingredients
2. Fluffy bread buns with a tender crumb, commonly eaten in British cuisine especially as sandwiches
3. Light, pillowy bread rolls baked to a golden finish and traditionally served with butter or fillings

Etymology: "Barmcakes" is the plural of "barmcake", a soft, round bread roll associated with Scotland and northern England. The plural simply means more than one of these rolls. The singular is a compound of two older English words: "barm", the frothy yeast that forms on fermenting beer or ale, and "cake", a term that in this sense means a flat or round baked piece of bread or dough. Bakers once used barm itself as the raising agent. Its yeast made the dough rise, which is why the bread was named after the foam that leavened it. The name records a time when brewers' leftovers were the everyday source of yeast for home and bakery baking.