Classic Crumpets Recipes

CLASSIC CRUMPETS

Steps:

• Gently warm the milk. In a bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm milk and 100ml of tepid water. Leave in a warm place for 15 minutes, or until frothy.
• Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast mixture.
• Whisk from the centre outwards until the consistency of double cream - this will take a few minutes. Add a splash more water, if needed.
• Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside for 45 minutes or until little bubbles form on the surface.
• For the butter, pour the cream into a freestanding mixer. Whisk on high for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cream splits into solids and liquid.
• Drain through a sieve, discard the liquid, then rinse the solids thoroughly with cold water. Place in muslin and squeeze out any excess liquid. Mix ½ a teaspoon of sea salt through and wrap in greaseproof paper.
• Grease four 10cm egg rings with vegetable oil. Wipe a little oil around a large frying pan or iron skillet and place over a medium-high heat.
• Arrange the rings in the frying pan and, once hot, spoon 4 tablespoons of the batter into each ring. Cook for 5 minutes, or until little bubbles appear on the surface.
• Once the bubbles have burst, leaving little holes, use tongs to carefully lift off the rings and flip over the crumpets, then cook for 1 minute on the other side. Re-grease and reheat the rings and pan before cooking the next batch.
• Serve the crumpets warm, with a slather of butter. If making them in advance, just toast lightly on both sides when you come to serve them.

TRADITIONAL ENGLISH CRUMPETS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Warm the milk in a saucepan. Make sure that it is warm but not boiling. Otherwise, it will kill the yeast.
• Skim any film off of the top.
• Whisk together the warmed milk, flour , sugar, and yeast in a large bowl.
• Once combined, add half the water and beat into the batter.
• Continue to add more water until the batter is thick and smooth. Stop adding water once it reaches the consistency of thick cream.
• Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size and foaming. This should take about 1 hour but can take up to 2 hours (keep an eye on it).
• Whisk the salt and baking powder into the batter.
• Heat a large heavy-duty non-stick skillet over medium to medium-high heat until hot but not smoking.
• Moisten a paper towel with a little oil (alternatively, use cooking spray) and carefully grease the base of the pan and crumpet (or pastry) rings measuring approximately 3 inches wide by 1/2 inch tall.
• Place 1 ring on the heated pan and pour in enough batter to fill just below the top of the ring, about 1/4 cup.
• Cook for 5 minutes, until there are many tiny holes on the surface and the crumpet is setting around the edges.
• Flip the crumpet over (in the ring) and cook until the crumpet is light brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes more.
• Adjust the temperature as needed. Repeat with the remaining batter, greasing the pan in between each batch.
• Rest the crumpets on a wire rack until cool.
• To reheat, place crumpets in a toaster or directly on the center rack in a 350 F oven for about 5 minutes before serving.
• Serve with lots of butter and jam .

ENGLISH CRUMPETS

Steps:

• Whisk 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Combine water and milk in a separate bowl and quickly whisk the milk mixture into the dry ingredients until batter is thick and smooth. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until spongy, about 1 hour. Stir dough to reduce sponginess.
• Place a rack into the oven and preheat to 150 degrees F (65 degrees C).
• Spray a skillet and round metal open-top cookie cutters or crumpet molds with cooking spray. Heat skillet over medium-low heat, place the metal cutters or molds into the skillet, and let the molds heat up. Spoon batter into the molds, filling them about halfway. Let the crumpets cook until the bottoms are browned, the tops appear nearly dry, and popped bubbles appear on top, about 5 minutes.
• Use tongs to lift molds out of the pan; remove molds from the crumpets. Flip and return crumpets to skillet to cook the other sides until browned, 1 to 2 more minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Keep cooked crumpets warm on rack in the preheated oven while you cook remaining crumpets.

CRUMPETS

Steps:

• NOTE:- 1 tsp dry yeast can be used in place of the compressed yeast; sift it with the dry ingredients.
• Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl.
• Dissolve yeast in water, add to dry ingredients, beat until smooth.
• Crumpets can be cooked in a lightly greased frying pan or electric frypan; if using frypan, pre-heat to 260 F.
• Lightly grease some egg-rings, put them in pan to heat through.
• When hot three-quarters fill the rings with batter.
• Allow to cook over a low heat for approximately 10 minutes or until surface is covered with holes.
• Remove the rings.
• Cover the pan, and cook a further 2 - 3 minutes or until the surface is set. Remove from the pan, cool on a wire rack.
• When cold, toast and serve with butter.
• These may be frozen.

CRUMPETS

Steps:

• In a bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the milk, 1 tablespoon butter, egg and mix well. Combine flour and salt; add to yeast mixture. Beat until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. , Brush griddle and 3-in. metal rings or open-topped metal cookie cutters with remaining butter. Place rings on griddle; heat over low heat. Pour 3 tablespoons of batter into each ring. , Cook for 7 minutes or until bubbles begin to pop and the top appears dry. Remove rings. Turn crumpets; cook 1-2 minutes longer or until the second side is golden brown. Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack and toast before serving.