Jane Pettigrew's Crumpets

For quite some time now there has a book called "Jane Pettigrew's Tea Time" hanging around in the recipe book stack. Occasionally I would have a flick though with a mind to clearing out books that were never used, but this one is so sweet that I hadn't the heart. In my most recent attempt to remove some of the accumulated junk, I came across it again and fell to flicking through.
It really is a lovely book. It is now out of print and only available on Amazon's used site, but within its covers there are explanations of how to brew tea, a little social history of tea and recipes for the perfect high tea at any time of year. She covers sandwiches, cakes, bread, snacks, canapés, all the different types of tea, with a daintiness that is almost touching. In her chapter on sandwich she gives the reader suggestions for types for which types of bread and butter should be used with each filling, and whether or not the crusts should be left on or off. Jane is a strong advocate for tea time as "a restful, social occasion with the refinements of a pretty table cloth, napkins, fine china and a vase of flowers on the table", and continues to campaign through tea master-classes and her blog on www.worldteanews.com.
Her recipes include some real old favourites, the much lauded stuff of a past age. This book belongs really in a Beatrix Potter books or in Mr Jeeves' day case. Specifically, I was most exited about eccles cakes, cornish fairings, maccaroons, oat bread and crumpets. So I finally decided to get going and try one. After much agonizing I chose crumpets, because I have honesty never seen anything but a pre-packaged crumpet from Warburtons. In any case this isn't really something I'm into, so I decided to try it out for myself.
My first attempt was a bit of a disaster. I attempted the recipe with improvised crumpet rings, made from cut up baked bean cans, and this was a big mistake.The crumpets stick too much to the metal,m because it is ridged and there are far too many sharp edges for my liking. I've seen recipes on the internet using old tuna cans, with top and bottom removed, but I found pastry rings were the best. In addition to this I would advocate letting the batter rise four times rather than Jane's three times, as this makes for a far better bubbly crumb in the crumpet.

Ok here goes:
Ingredients
350g plain flour
dash of sugar
the smallest pinch of salt
25g fresh yeast (it would probably work with dried but I haven't tried)
425ml warm milk
150ml warm water
2 medium, beaten eggs

Makes about 20, depending on your rings.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Dissolve the yeast in a little of the warm milk. Then whisk all ingredients together to form a smooth batter. Leave in a warm place for 30-45 mins. Go and watch some "Yes Minister" to get into the mood.

The mix should have a sort of foamy top to it now, if not move it to somewhere warmer and wait a bit longer. Once this top is achieved, grab the whisk again and knock it back down to size. Leave for 30 mins to recover the head, and repeat the process. Repeat twice more after this.

Heat a heavy frying pan over a medium hob with a little butter. Let it achieve a nice even temperature across the pan. Place your crumpet rings on the pan, leaving a little space for flipping them over and poking them around a bit. Make sure they are really well greased.
Spoon in your batter, perhaps two tablespoons per ring, depending on your rng size. Remember they will rise so don't over fill, after the fist couple you will find the right amount.

Let them cook for about 6-8 mins, until the batter is set, and bottom is nicely browned and big bubbles have broken the surface.

Once crumpets look thus, pop them out of their rings and flip them over. They will probably need some encouraging with a palate knife. Let the top brown slightly for 6-8 mins and let them cool on a rack.
Regrease the rings and repeat until all the batter is used up.

Tuck into your crumpets immediate, or save them till breakfast, either way make sure to toast them and eat them with unhealthy amounts of salted butter.




All in all, Jane Pettigrew opens a window through time, so we can view the accumulated habits of an imperial nation, come four o'clock in the afternoon. The daintiness with which it approaches its subject is something that is very rare in todays world and it is lovely to find literature of this ilk hiding in the clutter of our lives.