What's more comforting than crumpets and tea when it's cold and wet outside? You spend the day cavorting around the countryside having a marvellous time, then as the sun begins to set and you crawl back home, heaven is hot sweet tea with crumpets smothered in masses of butter, honey or marmite and a roaring fire. Am I wrong?
I have been wanting to make my own crumpets for a while and finally got round to it this week. Granted, its not a quick process - hands-on time is small but there are two 'proving' times that add about an hour but they are worth the wait though.
It's best to use a round cutter, and not fluted if possible. I ended up using mine upside down to aid with removal after the first 5 minutes of cooking. Liberal amounts of oil help this as well...
Ingredients. Makes 10-12
400ml Milk
100ml Lukewarm Water
1 tbsp Dried Yeast
1 tsp Sugar
300g Bread Flour
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
Vegetable Oil for greasing
Method
1. In a small saucepan, gently heat the milk and water to about body temperature and mix in the sugar and dried yeast. Set aside somewhere warm for about 20 minutes - the mixture should start to get frothy
2. Meanwhile, into a large bowl, sift the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Then add the milk mixture, whisking really well as you go. Whisk until smooth but don't over work it. Cover the mixture and put it back in the warm place for another 45 minutes or so. You should see large, open bubbles forming on the surface
3. I used biscuit cutters for the round shape and actually had various sizes but whatever you use, use metal and first liberally grease the inside of the ring with oil and arrange in a large, flat bottomed pan, set above a medium heat
4. Pour about 2cm depth of batter into each ring and cook for 5 minutes - the bubbles will start popping on the surface. The ring should slide off easily and simply flip the crumpet over for another 30-60 seconds so the top gets a lovely golden colour
5. And done! Serve immediately with butter, honey, chocolate spread, or whatever grabs your fancy
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