The Mancunian Way: Circle of doughy goodness

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Crusty on the outside, not too fluffy on the inside, preferably with a little dimple on top. That’s as close as lifestyle editor Dianne Bourne can get to defining what makes a ‘true’ Oldham-made oven bottom muffin.

Over the last few weeks Dianne has been on an ‘Oldham odyssey attempting to find the ‘last survivors’ of a dying breed of breadcake.

Her quest took her from Waterhead to Clarksfield, Lees to Uppermill. Along the way she’s heard misty-eyed memories of the much-missed Declerqs bakery in Hollinwood, tracked down the mysterious Muffin Man, and learnt how lard, once a crucial ingredient in the baking process, has fallen out of fashion.

And in the process she’s eaten a hell of a lot of muffins. “What makes a truly authentic Lancashire oven bottom muffin (not to be confused with sweet American style muffins, nor English breakfast muffins under any circumstances) is open to debate,” she writes. “Although the one standard thing is the process of flipping the dough half way through the baking - traditionally on the oven bottom - to create the crust. “How crusty/black the exterior should be and how fluffy the interior is seems to be down to personal preference.” Dianne’s full piece is here.