Crumpetty Christmas

One of my aims over Christmas was to make my own crumpets.  I felt the need to diversify away from bread and I was intrigued to see how they actually end up with that bubbly texture.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't quite manage that, although I very nearly got there on the last one of the batch.

I used Simon Rimmer's recipe for crumpets, although the version I have, from the Accidental Vegetarian cookbook is slightly different, as the yeast, sugar and water are put into the flour straight away and the warm milk and bicarb are added before the twenty minutes resting time.



This first photo was taken after the mixture had its hour to rise.  First discovery - my pyrex bowl is not big enough for this monster of a mixture.  This got very big, very quickly.  As I aim to try and do a bit more breadmaking without the breadmaker in the future, I may need to invest in a bigger bowl.

Having destroyed the tea-towel that was over the top of it, I went for cling film for the resting period.  The bowl was perilously close to overflowing again.  Second discovery - there's a good reason why it is suggested that you oil the clingfilm.  Between the tea-towel debacle and the mixture lost this time around, I probably could have made another couple of crumpets.

Finally, after about an hour and a half of waiting for the mixture to get itself together, it comes time to cook.  I bought my crumpet rings from Amazon and I have to say I really like them.  What I like less, however, is discovery three - my cheap frying pan that isn't as flat as it needs to be - hence the leakage at the bottom of the ring on the left.  I may well be finding myself a new one in the sales.  Discovery four about my crumpets was that my frying pan is also not great at nonstick, meaning that I really needed to grease the frying pan a little better than I did.  

This picture is designed to show you two things.  One - that overfilling a crumpet ring, however tempting, is a big mistake.  The crumpet mixture bubbles up and over quite happily.  The one at the back was the one that I was particularly proud of - the aim seems to be to fill the ring about half way and have the crumpets on a very low heat.  Too high and the bottom of the crumpet ends up burning before the mixture has properly cooked through and solidified.  I'm extremely sad to say that when I came to turn that perfect one over, the bottom of the crumpet was stuck to the frying pan.  Boo.  

Another discovery for you.  I must make sure to regrease the insides of the crumpet rings between each batch.  Otherwise, when it's time to remove the rings, half the mixture comes away and the result is decidedly lacking in that crumpet shape.  

 This batch overall was probably my best.  I didn't manage to have any that had those well-known pockets on the top and these probably looked more like muffins.  Thankfully, they tasted pretty good - the little one has scarfed down four of them, with a little bit of peanut butter.  Thirty-six hours later, only two are left over.

I'm unsure if the effort is worth it - it's been pointed out that I can buy a pack of six crumpets for thirty-seven pence at the supermarket.  In terms of economy, I managed to make fifteen out of this mixture, which I think cost me in the region of thirty-five pence, although I think that I probably should make more like twenty-four.  Although the recipe I've linked to mentions making 20, the recipe in the book says 12.

I'm going to have another go at this soon, maybe the weekend and I'll report back.

Before I go - I feel that I should share pictures of this year's Christmas dinner.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.