Tasty Bit of Crumpet

Yes, of course you can just go and buy some, but these are far more satisfying. Make the batter an hour in advance, then you’ll need some crumpet rings…

Ingredients

150g strong flour
100g plain flour
7g sachet of dried yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100ml warm water
250ml warm milk

Method

Mix the sugar, warm milk and water in a jug and stir in the yeast. Leave in a warm place for 15 minutes until frothy.
Mix the flours together with the salt in a bowl, and pour in the frothy activate yeast.
Beat vigorously for a couple of minutes in order to get the gluten going, then cover with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm to ferment for an hour or so.
When ready, mix the bi-carb with a little warm water and gently mix through the dough.
Give the bi-carb a couple of minutes to work it’s magic, during which butter your crumpet rings and get the pan to a medium heat
Half fill each ring with the batter, and griddle the mix. You’ll soon see the little holes forming. When the tops turn dry and the mix has come away from the edge, flip the crumpet for the last minute or so to brown the top.
Serve with plenty of butter, and your favourite topping – in my case cheese and marmite!

Watch out...

I find I need to fiddle with the hob temperature quite a bit to start with in order for the crumpets to be suitably brown, crispy, but not burned, just as the top dries out.

Consider this...

James Martin (of Saurday Kitchen) uses 150ml of warm buttermilk and the same in warm water
If you don’t have any bi-carb, try using self raising flour instead of the plain flour, or just leave it out – no big deal if your batter looks like it has plenty of holes
Absolutely mind blowing served with a ring of black pudding and a poached egg on top

Comments 1

Post
Author

headchef
April 7, 2015 at 7:15 pm

Second attempt nowhere near as successful as the tasty example you see in the photo!

1. Used fresh yeast instead of dried
2. Used 150ml of buttermilk and some sort of milk/water mix

Mix was originally far too dry – more like dough, so watered it down a little. Fluffed up nicely after an hour, but each crumpet took an absolute age to cook, and didn’t dry out on the top so I had to flip to finish them – that said, they were tasty still.

Lesson: Stick to this recipe and measure things properly!