Crumpets for breakfast,
Crumpets for tea
Just about anytime - that would do me !
Quintessentially English, homemade crumpets are a light year away from the factory produced ones that you can buy in supermarkets. They're a yeasted bread product with a soft texture which looks like honeycomb which begs to be slathered in butter and jam / honey.
The holes are important and it took me a few attempts to get them just right. I've learnt a lot along the way. I'd never buy shop bought crumpets now as they are so easy to make and not in the slightest rubbery.
To make them, you will need crumpet rings. I did invest in a set - but had a horrendous time trying to get them out the rings - and that resulted in a couple of nasty burns. Eventually, I found some very large silicone egg rings that did the job. Maybe need to consider making our own rings specifically for crumpets !
If you don't have rings, you can make them free-form without. They'll just be thinner and tend to be known as pikelets.
RECIPE
450g strong white bread flour
7g (1 sachet) bread maker yeast
tablespoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
300ml milk
300ml water
300ml water
1.1/2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda into 75ml water and 75ml milk (150ml total)
Warm the first lot of milk and water to around body temperature (lukewarm). Add to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. It's a sloppy goo - and does not resemble bread dough. I do this with a hand held electric whisk for a very short amount of time to make sure I get all the lumps out quickly.
Cover and leave in a warm place for about an hour until risen and bubbly.
Mix in the rest of the liquid and bicarbonate of soda. Leave for another 10 mins and then transfer into a pouring jug.
Pour to (approx 1/2 fill) well greased rings (preferably silicone if you don't want a nightmare getting them out) until the tops become set and then turn over .
Serve warm with butter and honey or jam - or allow to cool and toast later.
These look fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI need to try making my own. We do buy the nasty store ones all the time and I know that home made would be much better. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I'll definitely use silicone rings!
ReplyDeleteLinda - thank you :-)
ReplyDeleteThe Mom Chef - if using metal rings, make sure to grease well and get them REALLY hot first. I could not get on with them though and lightly oiled large silicone egg rings worked like a dream !
I am so fascinated by the texture of crumpets - I have never actually had them, but pictures just want to make me poke them, haha! Looks like yours came out great!
ReplyDeleteWow your homemade crumpets look just like the store bought only a lot better! I need to try this out, I'm sure they tast 21389074826 times better also!
ReplyDeleteThese look amazing. Crumpets are awesome and I can only imagine yours were way better than store bought. Looks perfect with honey and butter. YUM!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, no more store bought stuff since learning how to make them. These look great ... love them toasted with chunks of butter. Oooo sinful!
ReplyDeleteKiri - they are stupidly easy once you get the hang of it. Initial batches produced yummy crumpets but few holes. I had to add LOADS more liquid than every recipe I found. Could be because I was using stoneground flour from a local watermill. It's really strong flour and does absorb quite a lot of liquid
ReplyDeleteLacy - these are amazing. It's a recipe I'll be keeping for ever and ever !
SV and Ping - oh - they're wonderful. They keep for several days too when refrigerated in an airtight container. Makes rather a lot of crumpets :-)
Crumpets! That's the name of these - thanks a lot for reminding me! I used to eat a lot of them - and loved them - when living in London almost 20 years ago. But no way I could remember what they were called. Now I know, and I will definitely be trying!
ReplyDeleteOh yes please.... silicone crumpet rings would be a best seller!!! Love crumpets - even the supermarket ones are ok if you toast them twice to get rid of that rubber!
ReplyDeleteWow these look great...I've never thought of making my own crumpets...but I might now! Thanks
ReplyDelete:-)
I can't tell you how stupidly easy they are to make. Saying that, it took me several attempts to get them just right. Most recipes have 150ml less liquid and simply didn't produce all those air holes.
ReplyDeleteGood luck if you try them - I promise you'll not regret it !
HI Sarah-Jane...I live in Israel and have recently been experimenting with crumpets as you can't get them here. I totally agree that silicone rings are the easiest..trouble is, all I could find were egg rings and I find them too shallow for crumpets. Where can I get slightly deeper rings online that would ship to Israel?
ReplyDeleteI lost my big, deep silicone rings when I moved house a couple of years ago. Although we sell silicone bakeware, I've never found any like the original ones I had to be able to replace them
DeleteI now use cast iron rings as the season well so are non stick and never move. They are however quite heavy and would be costly to ship overseas.