I'm sure most of you out there have had a crumpet, but have you experienced a home made crumpet? Let's just say these are slightly time consuming to make, require patience (maybe that's just me), and I'm happy about that. If they were less time consuming and being impatient was perfectly ok, I'd be eating a dozen a week, with loads of blackberry butter. Having said that, they are worth the time. Oh, and I suppose they are not technically "baked", so I guess these were "Cooked On Monday".
Crumpets with blackberry butter - makes about 15 (I picked up this recipe in Australia)
You will need 3 inch by 1 inch metal biscuit rings to make crumpets.
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 1/2 tsp sugar
7g sachet of dried yeast
375g/12oz all purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
Blackberry butter:
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 1/2 tblsp sugar
1 tblsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
To make crumpets: Pour milk into a saucepan and heat until just warm (no warmer as it will kill the yeast). Remove from heat and add the yeast and sugar. Let stand for about 10 minutes or until mixture starts to bubble. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, and make a well in the centre. Slowly add the milk mixture beat with electric beaters until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place for about 1-1 1/2 hours or until batter doubles in size and is full of air bubbles.
Mix the baking soda with 200ml/6 1/2 oz of water, and use electric beaters to combine with the batter. Heat a heavy based frying pan over medium heat and brush with melted butter. Grease biscuit rings and place in pan. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of batter into each ring. Cook over very low heat (crucial point!) for about 5 - 10 minutes or until the surface is full of large bubbles and a skin has formed. Loosen rings and turn over to cook other side. Remove crumpets from pan and place on a wire rack, cover with a tea towel while cooking the remaining batter. Serve fresh or toasted and top with blackberry butter. Beyond delicious. Enjoy!
To make blackberry butter: Place berries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until syrupy. Remove from heat and cool completely. Place softened butter in a bowl and whip with a spoon until creamy. Fold through the blackberry mixture to create a ripple effect. Cover and refrigerate until required.
Batter should double in size and have lots of air bubbles.
Lots of air bubbles while cooking, is a sign that things are going well ;)
Have a lovely Monday everyone!
