Been suffering from a persistent cold for the last couple of weeks, so motivation to make things has been a little low. The cold and wet weather we’ve been experiencing hasn’t been helping, and I’m waiting for spring to kick in with bated breath. Not wanting to break my streak of consistently posting once a week, I’ve dug through some of my past experiments to share. And thusly, I bring you crumpets.
I have phases with crumpets. I can go months without having any, then there’ll be days where I’m just hanging out for a freshly toasted crumpet slathered with butter that drips into the holes. The early days of my sourdough starter seemed as good a time as any to get back into them.
Seeing as you’re pretty much using starter straight, it’s also pretty efficient, and you can use ripe starter, or straight from the fridge.
I consider this still a bit of a work in progress. They’re not as holey as I’d like, as I may have been a little too heavy handed with the stirring once I added the bicarb, so they’re more like English muffins than crumpets. Also, I’d recommend metal rings over silicone. Silicone bakeware seems like a great idea, but personally, I produce more inconsistent results with them than with metal or ceramic/glass due to the way they heat and trap moisture.
Nevertheless, still a great use of starter, and even without rings you can free-hand it to make pikelets (or pancakes). They also freeze well, and if you get the size right, are perfect for the toaster.
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- 250 g sourdough starter 100% hydration
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp bicarb break lumps
- oil or butter for greasing
- crumpet or egg rings note that egg rings tend to be lower
Ingredients
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- Heat a skillet or pan. Grease the pan and rings and heat them together.
- Combine the starter, sugar and salt and mix well.
- When the pan is hot, work quickly to stir the bicarb into the batter. It will froth and rise, so be careful not to over-mix.
- Ladle into your rings, filling to 2/3 to avoid overflow as it continues to rise.
- As it cooks, the crumpet bubbles will form and burst. They're ready once the top is set. If using metal, the crumpets should also pull away from the sides.
- Re-grease rings and repeat.
Tips:
- The temperature of your pan may vary depending on your pan and stove, so you may need to keep an eye on the bottom to make sure that it doesn't burn. It may take a couple attempts to find the right amount of heat for your crumpets.
- You can flip the crumpets if you wish, but if the top isn't set, it may close up some of the holes.
- If using silicone rings, use a skewer or toothpick to separate the crumpet from the sides of the ring, or if yours have handles like mine, pull the handles to dislodge the crumpet.