English Crumpet Recipe

I love coming up with tasty recipes for everything from gluten-free goodies to refreshing drinks.

As a child in England, I loved eating crumpets at any time of the day. I have memories of smothering them with butter that would drip down my arm as I ate one after the other. Now, I need to be more health conscious and control how much butter I put on, but they do remind me of my youthful days.

This recipe is better than any shop-bought crumpet, and you know it is not filled with preservatives and mystery ingredients that you can't even pronounce.

Don't be put off by making them from fresh. They really are quick to make and will impress the family. I love the fact that, apart from the milk, there is no added fat, so you can go wild on the toppings and still feel good about yourself.

Cook Time

Ingredients

• 2 cups/250g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup/250 ml warm milk
• 1 cup/250 ml warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon dried yeast

Instructions

1. Warm the milk (but don't make it hot), stir in the sugar and sprinkle the yeast over the top and allow to sit for 10 mins or until it becomes frothy.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt & baking soda. Add frothy yeast liquid to the flour and mix, adding the warm water to combine together to make the dough. Cover and allow to sit for about 30 mins. You can leave the dough to sit for longer so that it becomes really frothy.
3. Prepare your crumpet/muffin rings by oiling the inner ring. Heat a heavy bottomed frying pan on medium to low heat. Place your rings in the pan and pour in enough batter to the thickness of crumpet you prefer. Cook for about 4-5 mins each crumpet. The mixture will bubble as its cooking until drying slightly on the surface. You will notice it has a crispy bottom and they will be pale but dried on top. (NOTE: Crumpets are not traditionally turned to cook. The colour will come by toasting when ready to eat.)

Crumpet Toppings

There is no limit to what you can do with your crumpet but here are some ideas:

• Plain butter that will melt over your warmly toasted crumpet
• Jam (Wow! That's inventive)
• Scrambled egg with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese and then grilled
• Jam, poached egg & asparagus
• Fresh banana & maple syrup

A Little Bit of "Crompid" History

Many great things come from my home county of Yorkshire that you may not even realize. Cats eyes, the reflective road stud, Yorkshire pudding, which is a savory and not a pudding, and Marks & Spencers, the famous chain in England, started life in leeds. Then along came John Wycliffe who, like a true Yorksireman, called a spade a spade, which got him into a bit of trouble with the church that didn't want to hear the truth and took him out. And I don't mean for dinner. He was the chap who translated the word for these cakes from 1300 from Latin to the English word "Crompid cake".

It wasn't until the 1900s when the Victorians started getting into a food revolution and gave us the crumpet rings, providing a standard size. A baker decided it would be a great idea to add yeast. Now we have the famous bubbles that drink the melting butter.

Comments

lemonkerdz (author) from LIMA, PERU on May 13, 2018:

Thank you for your comments Mary. They are really good especially if you can’t get hold of them where you live. Even if you can, making your own can help the planet since you are not having all the packaging and plastic that comes with commercially made crumpets.

Please enjoy.

Mary Wickison from Brazil on May 13, 2018:

I love crumpets and haven't had any since moving to Brazil. I will definitely be trying your recipe. I didn't know about the history of them but that's interesting.

Although I knew about the cat's eyes, I didn't know the inventor came from Yorkshire. Also, I knew Morrisons was from, up north, although that may be the Midlands, I didn't realize M & S started up there. It sounds like a birthplace of many great ideas.