The other day while riding in the car my Hubby asked me, "What is a crumpet?" I didn't have a very good explanation, since I have never actually had the opportunity to partake in one. I figured now was the perfect time to give them a try, so we did. I'm not sure how authentic my execution was, but we really enjoyed how light and delicious these crumpets were. Hubby drinks tea constantly, so he definitely deserved some crumpets to enjoy with his tea and homemade strawberry jam. They were wonderfully light and soft in comparison to a typical biscuit or English muffin in the U.S due to the fact that they contain yeast. I surely hope we get to visit London sometime soon and try out the real thing, but until then we will continue to enjoy these.
Crumpets
Credit: The Essential James Beard Cookbook by James Beard
Ingredients:
½ cup whole milk
½ cup boiling water
One ¼-ounce package (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ¾ cups unbleached flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons warm (110° to 115°F) water
¼ teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
Unsalted butter, for serving
Four 3 ½-inch crumpet rings (I used silicone pancake rings available at my local grocery store)
Directions:
~Combine the milk and boiling water in a medium bowl and cool to lukewarm. Add the yeast and sugar, let stand for 5 minutes, and stir to dissolve the yeast.Sift the flour and salt together. Add to the milk mixture with the warm water to make a batter.Stir several minutes with a wooden spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and let the batter rise in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk and rather bubbly. Stir in the dissolved soda. Cover again and let rise again until doubled in bulk.
~Butter the crumpet rings. Place the rings on a moderately hot griddle. Spoon the batter into each ring to a depth of about ½ inch. Cook until the crumpets are dry and bubbly on top. Remove the rings, turn the crumpets, and brown lightly on the other side.
~Transfer to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter. Let cool. To serve, toast and flood with butter, and top with homemade jam.
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