I ♥ Crumpets

The other day I allowed myself to go into Lakelands whilst visiting the mothership .... I try not to go in there to often as I am easily seduced into all the kitchen gadgets!!!

I insisted that the Husband come with me, purely so that he could ground me and prevent me from picking up gadgets that I simply 1) have no use for 2) space for 3) afford.... etc...

However, whilst he was distracted by the bright lights of the Soda Stream section... I was seduced by Crumpet Rings!!!

Now... I've been an expert on crumpets for many years... and I know that there must be more to life than the rubbery crumpets often found on sale... and where as I have been happy with those for a long time I fancied trying to make my own!

So.... I followed the recipe on the packaging... handy!!... and the first batch was a disaster... so after lots of huffing and wishing I hadn't bought the silly crumpet rings I couldn't bare to be defeated... so had another go!

I used a little less flour than the recipe suggested and it worked!!!!

here are the results......

This is them being cooked... the batter isn't very easy to 'pour' into the rings... and the photo shows two that were overfilled and two that were filled correctly....

The batter mix makes this many crumpets... the next batch will be more as the Husband insisted on trying the first two... and there were a couple of mutants that needed to be rejected....

A moment or two in the toaster / grill (I don't have a grill)... long story!... and a knob of butter... and hey presto!!!....

Enough said!

So if you want to have a go...... get some crumpet rings and this is how I made them....

♥

Ingredients

Makes 12-15 (+ or - a few mutants!)

450g / 1lb (I used about 350g, but see what works for you...) - Strong plain flour, sifted

1/2 tsp salt optional

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp / 1 x 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast

300ml / 1/2 pint warm water

300ml / 1/2 pint warm milk (I used lactose free milk, and no probs)

vegetable oil

4 crumpet rings, slightly greased.

♥

Method

1) Place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in an extra large bowl and stir thoroughly leaving a well in the centre.

2) Gently heat the milk and water until tepid or finger hot ( I zapped in the microwave)  Pour into the well and thoroughly mix to give quite thick batter; cover with a tea towel or cling film.

3) Leave in a warm place to rise for about an hour until the mixture has a light, spongy texture.

4) Stir well to knock out any air and pour into a large jug.

5) Heat a drop of oil in a non-stick frying pan or griddle (I didn't bother... my pan is very non-stick). Wipe the pan with kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.  Place the greased crumpet rings in the pan and allow the rings to heat up for a couple of minuets.

6) Pour in enough mixture to fill the rings just over halfway, as the mixture will double. (YES IT WILL) Leave to cook until plenty of holes appear on the surface and the batter has dried out on the surface of the crumpets. This will take about 10-12 minuets (YES IT WILL)

7) The rings can be lifted off once the crumpets have set.  Let them cool and re-grease them for the next batch!!

For best eating results... let them cool down for a good couple of hours.. (yes I know...but trust me)... then stick in the toaster and add lashings of butter... low fat of course!

♥