Overnight Crumpets á la River Cottage

Recipe source: River cottage Handbook No.3: Bread by H. Fernley-Wittingstall

I love a hearty breakfast and crumpets are an all time favorite of mine (not only for breakfast!). I don´t know how much recipes I had tried before I found the River cottage Handbook No.3: Bread. I liked the bread recipes a lot and so I gave Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall´s crumpets a go.

Usually I wake up as hungry as a hunter and want to eat immediately. Hence until that day, I made crumpets only for special occasions or when it happened for some strange reason that I would wake up very early in the morning and had enough time for the yeast dough to rest. But when I read in the bread book that it didn´t matter if the dough rests for 1 hour or 4 hours, I invented my easy overnight-method: I just combine the ingredients in the evening, let them bubble for a while, put them in the fridge and in the morning the dough is ready for baking.

I bake the crumpets in a cast iron pancake form. This way they are not quite as thick as baked in crumpet or muffin rings, but still fluffy and soft as a pillow, and I don´t have to worry about them beeing crispy on the outside but still a bit raw in the middle.

The crumpets are perfect with butter and jelly, but also great with cheese, ham, bacon, maple syrup, cream, fruits, …

Ingredients:

450 g (15,9 oz) flour

350 ml warm milk

350 ml warm water

5 g (0,18 oz) powdered yeast

5 g (0,18 oz) salt

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Whisk together flour, milk, water, sugar and yeast to a runny batter, cover and leave for 1 hour minimum until really bubbly, can be 3-4 hours, or longer if you put the dough in the fridge after becoming bubbly.

2. When ready for baking, oil and heat a pan. Wisk salt and baking powder into the batter and spoon into the form. (If you use muffin rings, try first if the dough stays inside the ring. if it leaks out beneath the ring, add a little flour to the batter.) After one or two minutes baking time the dough should develop a lot of bubbles on the surface.

3. Bake on one side until the dough sets on the surface and the crumpets are crispy and golden brown at the bottom. Turn and bake for another few minutes, about 4 min. each side.

4. Serve hot.