Crumpets

[rebelmulledwine72]

Does anyone have a good crumpet recipe? I've made them before, and they've been ok-ish, but I've never managed to get lots and lots of holes on top, which is ESSENTIAL for making sure as much butter as possible soaks into the crumpets after toasting

Would really appreciate any recipes or tips.

Thanks!!

PS Am forced to make crumpets as we live in Germany and they are not available here, and while I quite like them, ds has now decided they are the BEST THING EVER, so am really keen to learn how to do them properly!

PPS Does anyone else think that "crumpet" is one of the most fabulous words in the English language?

They look really good slng.

You're children are gorgeous too!

Am very excited about this. I have rings and biscuit cutters and am ready to roll.

Once I've 'tested' the peanut brittle I've just made.

Right ... it's looking and smelling good. The batter is rising.

Thanks bunny!

What fun it all is!

Exciting, Bramble. Please tell me about the peanut brittle

Crumpet_Update

Ok, have now tried the Elizabeth David recipe, but had to use baking powder rather than just bicarbonate of soda due to slight storecupboard depletion situation .

The result was a really thick, gloopy, elastic and stringy batter, which I was rather about.

The crumpets, however, did have slightly more holes than with any of the other recipes I'd tried.
They were also about double the height . I have no idea how we're going to get them into the toaster!

Ds ate FOUR of them in a row, though, with nothing on them, so I'm assuming they tasted sensational

I do like all this international trying of crumpet recipes - shall we start a Crumpet Club?

Am also waiting for your update, Bramble!

Excellent news. The International Crumpet Club is wonderful.

Could we perhaps have a rating system for each recipe?

Did you use fresh yeast? I only have a jar of dried yeast and am not sure how much to use - a couple of tsp, I guess? I will try Elizabeth David's recipe but with bicarb tomorrow and report back.

have quickly skipped through this thread but have made, with quite a bit of success re holes, Gary Rhodes recipe. Am also not in UK - funny the things you miss!. I made them ages ago but remember using small tins, beans or peas or something with both ends cut off, for the rings to shape them. Will dig out recipe later unless it has already been posted.

Yes please to recipe, oxo. Good idea to use tins for rings. I have to do mine one at a time as I only have one cookie ring.

rebel - that's interesting. DSs demanded crumpets of greater height (though I noticed they did not abstain from scoffing 3 vertically-challenged ones each). I'll try the Elizabeth David recipe next time!

OK. Before I start I should admit that as a baby my parents nicknamed me 'muffin', as I was small, fat and round but would be a nice bit of crumpet when I grew up. So I feel very contented at cooking the darn things.

I did the delia recipe and it was very good - however, I think that after setting them off in the pan, they would possibly need to go into the oven to finish off, after the bottom heat (snurtle) had made the bubbles come up and through. Or maybe I could put a lid on my pan (although massive and le creuset pan).

Mine were also vertically challenged, but ds2 who is VERY fussy ate them. (he is diabetic and now having a massive blood sugar spike which is due to scoffing the lot, so I'm going to check him and sort some insulin out!).

Peanut brittle - oh yeah baby. mmmmm!!!!! It's in nigella's Christmas book and I shall return shortly with the recipe.

bramble - LOL at nicknames. I thought about finishing the crumpets in the oven as well. But my frying pan has plastic handle ... I think putting the lid on might steam it and make it soggy?

I can't believe I'm entering a discussion on crumpet-making when I can just get them from round the corner. What is wrong with me?

Nigella's peanut brittle. even I can make it

200g caster sugar
60ml water
150g golden syrup
150g salted peanuts
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
25g soft butter
1 1/4 teaspoons bicarb of soda

I used my silpat to dribble the mix on in the end. Nigella suggests a sheet of bake o glide or buttered foil ?!

Put sugar, water and syrup in pan, bring to the boil gently, then let it boil in a rolling boil for 10 mins - will smoke!

Take off the heat, stir in the nuts, followed by vanilla, butter, bicarb.

Pour briskly onto the waiting parchment/foil.

Leave to cool and store in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

Gary Rhodes crumpet recipe - haven't checked that this is the same as the one in his book which I followed but am presuming it is

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps dried yeast .
• 2 tsps salt .
• 4 c all-purpose flour .
• 2 1/2 c warm water

Directions

• Step #1 Sift together the flour & salt.
• Step #2 Mix the yeast with a few tbsps of the warm water.
• Step #3 Whisk three-quarters of the remaining warm water into the flour & then add the yeasty liquid.
• Step #4 Cover up & leave in a warm place until the mixture has risen.
• Step #5 Once risen, check the consistency.
• Step #6 If the batter is very thick, loosen with the remaining water.
• Step #7 The batter should now be left to stand for 8-10 mins.
• Step #8 Warm a non-stick frying pan on a low heat.
• Step #9 Butter some crumpet rings or small tartlet rings.
• Step #10 Place the rings into the frying pan & pour in some of the batter until half-full (1/4 to 1/2 inches deep).
• Step #11 Cook on a low heat until small holes appear & the top has started to dry.
• Step #12 The bottom of the crumpet will now be golden & it can be turned over & cooked for another min.
• Step #13 The crumpets are now ready for lots of melting butter! Note: The crumpets can be cooked without turning - simply cook this until the tops are completely dry.
• Step #14 The finely grated zest of 1 lemon can also be added to the batter to give a lemon bite.
• Enjoy the Gary Rhodes - Homemade Crumpets recipe

Oh God, its all American measures. Will have to find book a don't understand these

Oooooh, Gary Rhodes doesn't use any milk!

Ok, will have to try this one out, as:

a) can't believe it will be the same with no milk in it

b) we have managed to eat all of the crumpets I made yesterday (ds and I managed 6 for breakfast this morning, and despite having to squeeze them into the toaster, they were rather fabulous, even if I say so myself)

Actually, these were so high, I thought back to what FrannieandZooey had said about splitting crumpets and actually could see how it might be done with these monsters.
But I didn't attempt it.

lol at bramblebooks nicknames - I call ds muffin sometimes, because it is such a lovely sounding word!!

slng - of course, we who are not in the UK have extra incentive to make crumpets, but really, homemade crumpets are so lovely and nothing like the shop-bought variety (which I also love, they're just different) it really is worth making them...really.

Oh, and we'd need a UK chapter of the International Crumpet Club, if for nothing else than to test each recipe against the traditional shop-bought ones.
Warning: you may end up eating a lot of crumpets

Bugger! I saw the Rhodes recipe and had my cups out BUT I wanted to half the quantities but messed it up. Will try it anyway and report back.

And will try a different recipe next time.

What sort of consistency is your batter? I always want it to be runny, like pancake batter but it is always very thick. I never know if/ how much to think it.

Crumpet Update

NO HOLES

I am going to go back to delia. There are always holes in hers.

Crumpet review

Gary Rhodes (slightly botched and VERY thinned recipe)

Taste: Bleurgh 2/10

Holes: Quite a few 7/10

Thickness: ok 7/10

Overall: 17/30

I think to get good holes, the batter needs to be quite runny. And not too much put in the rings, maybe about half full.

These tasted so bad (perhaps unsurprisingly like flour and water) that I am not going to cook the remaining batter.

Will post pics soon

Pic now on profile, hopefully

The holes appeared after I thinned the batter quite a lot. Before that there were none at all, hence discrepancy in previous posts.

I would also like to know what consistency the batter is supposed to be.

I used to do it quite thin, but that was back in my Stodgy Crumpets stage.
Now I'm going with the very thick and gloopy batter, and my crumpets are lovely and fluffy and slightly spongey and...well, you get the idea.

I keep hoping someone will put up an instructional video of making crumpets on youtube or videojug or somewhere like that, but nobody seems to want to take up the challenge...

And how thick are your crumpets? My usual lot are the same as the ones you buy, which is what? about 1 1/2 cm or so. The Elizabeth David recipe crumpets came up a good 3cm!

And do you think we're obssessing too much re. the holes? Maybe real crumpets ie old-fashioned homemade ones, didn't actually have so many holes, and we've just been duped in multi-hole expectations by the mass-produced baked goods of Mr Sainsbury et al?

Mine are usually normal crumpet thickness too.

I do want to try ED's recipe. After GR, I think milk is a must. His were stodgy even before I thinned the batter. Maybe the bicarb/ baking pdr is important.

I did wonder that about the holes. How could we find out what crumpets used to be like? And what is in supermarket crumpets? I can't buy any to check the ingredients.

Right, we need someone from the UK-branch of the ICC (International Crumpet Club) to check the ingredients on a pack of Sainsbury's / Tescos / Waitrose crumpets.

Do I have any volunteers?