Title: English Crumpets
Categories: Bread Uk
Yield: 1 Batch
| 1 | lb | Plain flour |
| 1 | pt | Milk |
| 1/2 | oz | Fresh yeast |
| 1 | ts | Salt |
| 1 | pn | Sodium Bicarbonate (large) |
| 4 | tb | Warm water (about) |
| TO GREASE GRIDDLE ETC |
| | | Suet or lard |
Warm the flour in a bowl in the late warming part of the stove, or stand it
in a rack above the cooker. Heat the milk to body temperature (a clinical
themometer can be used if you don't have a kitchen one), then fork up the
yeast with 3 tbs of the milk. It will soon cream and swell into frothiness.
Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in both the yeast mixture
and the rest of the warm milk. beat for a good 5 minutes (an electric
beater can be used, 3 minutes will be enough). Cover the bowl and leave to
rise in a warm place for an hour. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the
warm water, add it to the mixture, beating it in thoroughly, then leave it
to rise for another hour.
Grease the griddle with lard or suet, and grease the crumpet rings (rings
about 4" diameter, 1/2" high, Tala make them, but they're not essential).
Place the rings on the griddle and heat it when the dough is ready. Pour
spoonfuls of mixture to half fill the rings, and leave for a few moments to
cook. Turn them over when the top part loses its liquid appearance, and
finish the cooking. Ease off the rings, and start again with some more
dough.
Eat these crumpets toasted in the usual way, with plenty of butter. they
make a good base for fried eggs, or scrambled eggs with anchovies. Some
people like them with syrup as well as butter.
Recipe "English food" Jane Grigson
MMed IMH c/o Georges' Home BBS 2:323/4.4