Crumpets

Photographer: Adam
Makes 12 crumpets

Flashback to 20 or so years ago, and most Sundays we would go to my grandpa’s house and have the most legendary roast dinners – roast beef with Yorkshire puddings, the crispiest, yet fluffiest roast potatoes you could imagine – delicious flavoursome vegetables and gravy…. Don’t get me started on how good the gravy was; I used to watch my grandpa make the gravy and the concoction of things which used to go into it has led me on a lifelong mission to replicate something similar.

Once we had gorged ourselves, my sister and I would excuse ourselves from the table and maybe watch a film, and after that we would all often go for a family walk – normally to try and feel less guilty about the amount of food we had eaten.

Come evening time, when we could start considering the possibility of ever eating something again, that something was always crumpets. I had mine slathered with marmite, so much so that it would mix in with the butter and drip through the holes of the crumpet onto the plate. They are a quintessentially British food, of which I am very proud.

INGREDIENTS


180ml semi-skimmed milk (warm)
230g plain flour
2.5g dried yeast
1tsp sugar
180-200ml water (warm) – approx
1tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder

Canola oil for cooking

METHOD


1. In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar and yeast until combined.
2. Slowly whisk in the warm milk to create a batter and then add ½ the water – to thin it down.
3. Continue to add the water and whisk it in, until the batter is thin enough to slowly run off the back of a spoon (you might not need all the water in the ingredients list). Cover the bowl and place in a warm area for 2 hours. – The batter should be foaming by the time you return.
4. Add the salt and the baking power to the batter and combine.
5. Heat a heavy- bottomed pan and grease the bottom of it with some canola oil.
6. Take your egg rings (also known as a pastry ring or crumpet ring) and grease those too. Place them in the pan (you might need to do this in two batches).
7. Add batter to just under the top of each ring – (if the batter runs out of the bottom of the ring it is too thin and needs some more flour added to the mixture. If it is too thick, then air bubbles won’t form – which means more warm water needs to be added).
8. Cook on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes then carefully remove the ring with some tongs and allow the crumpet to cook for another minute. Flip it over, and briefly sear the top of each crumpet for 30 seconds, before removing it from the pan.
9. Allow to cool and then eat, or store in an air tight container. They will also freeze really well too – great for an emergency snack!