I had home made crumpets suggested to me awhile ago, by a work colleague and while my interest was piqued, they hadn’t bubbled up to the top of the “to do” list yet.
Last week I received the latest copy of SBS Feast Magazine featuring Matthew Evans’ breakfast recipes and there they were, home made crumpets lathererd with whipped honey butter. How could I not want to give them a go?!
First problem was finding a warm place for them to “brew” on a cool spring day. The DB had a great suggestion: What about the hot house? Perfect!
I suggest making them and then leaving them to cool and toasting them later.
Makes 18 crumpets if using crumpet rings, more if you only have egg rings.
Ingredients:
3 cups milk
7g dry yeast
1 teaspoon caster sugar
30g butter, finely chopped
3 1/3 cups plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
Method:
Warm the milk gently so that it is body temperature. (Too hot and you will kill the yeast)
Dissolve the yeast in 2 tablespoons of the warm milk. Dissolve the sugar in the remaining milk, stir in the butter until melted.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the centre and stir in the butter and milk mixture, then the yeast mixture.
Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. It should be thick and bubbly but be able to be poured – slowly.
Grease a fry pan and crumpet rings with canola spray and heat over a medium heat.
Using a 1/3 cup measure, pour batter into crumpet rings, two-thirds of the way to the rim. Do not overfill as they do rise. Cook for 5 – 6 minutes or until holes appear on the top and it starts to dry out. Be careful that the bottom doesn’t burn. Too low a temperature and you will not get bubbles and too high and the base will burn.
Remove the crumpet rings (remember they are hot and use a glove – unlike my first attempt with my fingers…..), turn the crumpets and cook the other side for 1 – 2 minutes or until lightly browned. If you are toasting them later, leave them a light golden colour. If you can’t wait and will eat them straight from the pan, then let them darken a little more.
And Voilà! just like the bought ones…… or as the DB says….. as close as $hit is to swearing!
