In Great Britain and Ireland a teacake is a light, yeast-based bun typically split, toasted, buttered, and served with tea. It is flat, circular and roughly 15cm in diameter, with a smooth brown upper surface and a somewhat lighter underside.In certain areas of West Yorkshire, the term teacake is often used to describe a flatbread bun without the addition of currents/sultanas, outside of this region the terms cob, bread roll, bread bun and bap

are used, in addition to regional peculiarities such as bread cake or Barm cake.

This Yorkshire 'teacake' could be traditionally served with Fish & Chips, or simply with chips as a filling. The ordering of such can be problematic, as it could be referred to as a chip teacake, chip cob, chip buttie or chip barm, dependent upon the geographical location.

Ainsley's Confectioners will not serve teacakes after 11:30am as they regard them as a breakfast item whilst Asda generally only put in three currants per teacake, however they are trying to rectify this situation.

Marks & Spencer retail outlets sell Traditional Yorkshire Teacakes which resemble plain bread rolls.

In other areas of West Yorkshire the more traditional toasted and buttered teacake is known as a Fat Rascal.

In Kent the tea cake is known as a Huffkin, which is often flavoured with hops, especially at the time of harvesting hops in September

An unrelated confectionery product, made in Scotland, is the Tunnock's Tea Cake.

In the southeast of the United States, a tea cake is a traditional cookie, similar to a sugar cookie.

In Australia a teacake is a larger cake of the type made with a mixture of flour, eggs, fat and sugar. It is served sliced as an accompaniment to tea. Australian teacakes are sometimes sprinkled with cinnamon and fine (caster) sugar, and are often served warm from the oven.