Crumpets ∼ #TwelveLoaves January 2014

Welcome to 2014! Can someone please slow this year down a bit since it seemed like 2013 went by in the blink of an eye. I have decided to make 2014 the year that I will become a confident bread baker - including all kinds of bread. I have been very fortunate in being able to join the #TwelveLoaves baking group. If anyone can help me achieve this goal it is this group of amazing bakers. It is going to be challenging for me, but I am so excited to get started. I hope that anyone else who wants to achieve this goal will follow along as I attempt each months theme - it will be fun and we can learn together.

Fortunately for me the theme for #TwelveLoaves January 2014 is Keep it Simple! What a great way to ease into the group, or so I thought.  Growing up I always loved having crumpets for breakfast. Warm and toasty, with butter melting through the holes and some honey drizzled over the top, that first bite is just sensational. They are quite popular in Australia and come in both round and square versions, as well as whole wheat. I have missed having crumpets for breakfast and decided that I would try them as my first baking project for the group.

There are a lot of recipes out there for crumpets but I found one I thought would be a sure thing.  I was wrong, and even though I followed the recipe to the letter, the crumpets turned out more like English Muffins. Now, this wouldn't have been a bad thing if that is what I was aiming for but I wanted crumpets. There was also that horrible feeling in the back of my mind that I was letting the group down by failing at my first attempt.

So I searched for another recipe and found one that was completely different - in both ingredients and preparation.  I was so anxious for this one to work that when I discovered that I had grabbed a half teaspoon measure instead of a teaspoon for the yeast and it was way too late to go back, I wanted to call it a day.  However, I decided to proceed with the rest of the recipe and just see how it turned out. Much to my surprise the crumpets rose beautifully, little holes appeared on top at they were cooking just as they were supposed to, and the finished product looked just like a crumpet should look. Maybe I did only need 1¼ teaspoons of yeast after all ;) .  Also, I did flip some of the crumpets over like the recipe suggests, but for most of them I just let the bubbles appear at the top, took off the non-stick egg rings I used, and then just let them slowly dry in the pan because I knew I wanted to put them in the toaster the next day for breakfast.

If you are frazzled after the Holiday Season and would like to Keep it Simple! check out what my fellow #TwelveLoaves baker's have been baking ∼

• Broiled White Free-Form Loaf by Lora at Cake Duchess
• Buttermilk Honey Bread by Renee at Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Country Boule with Spelt and Sourdough by Karen at Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Crumpets by Felice at All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• No Knead Bread from Holly at A Baker's House
• No-Knead Christmas Pudding Cinnamon Rolls by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Pumpkin Bread by Alice at Hip Foodie Mom
• Soda Bread by Rossella at Ma che ti sei mangiato
• Sour Cream Drop Biscuits by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Sweet Potato Fry Bread by Anne at From My Sweet Heart
• Victorian Milk Bread by Deepti at Bakingyummies
• Whole Wheat and Molasses Quick Bread by Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake

#TwelveLoaves-Keep it Simple! We enjoyed a delicious month of December with our Holiday Breads. January #TwelveLoaves is here and we are going to Keep it Simple! Choose a recipe that is not overly complicated, whether in technique or ingredients. Share your January Keep it Simple! Bread (yeast or quick bread). Let's get baking!

If you’d like to add your bread to the collection with the Linky Tool this month, here’s what you need to do!

1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone's posts. Please make sure that your bread is inspired by the theme!
2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog. It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.
3. Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this January 1, 2014, and posted on your blog by January 31, 2014. 

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess. #TwelveLoaves runs so smoothly thanks to the help of the lovely Paula from Vintage Kitchen Notes and Renee from Magnolia Days.



I am going to share this with YeastSpotting.

Crumpets

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 2 cups of bread flour
• 1⅔ cups of all-purpose flour
• ¾ of a teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 2¼ teaspoons of active dry yeast
• ½ a teaspoon of sugar
• 2¼ of a cup of warm water
• 2 teaspoons of crushed sea salt
• ½ a teaspoon of baking soda
• ⅔ cup of full-fat warm milk
• butter or cooking spray for greasing the pan
• topping(s) of your choice (some suggestions include butter, jam or honey)

Preparation

1. Sift the flour and cream of tartar together into a bowl.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the yeast and the sugar together with ¾ of a cup of warm water, and let stand until the water becomes foamy. Stir in the remaining lukewarm water.
3. Mix the yeast mixture into the flour mixture, and beat vigorously for two minutes, or until you get a thick, yet smooth batter.
4. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let it stand in a warm spot until the batter rises and then falls. This will take around 1 to 1½ hours.
5. Add the salt to the batter, and beat for about 1 minute. Then, cover the bowl again and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes.
6. Mix the baking soda and warm milk together in a mug; then, gently stir it into the batter.
7. Heat an oiled griddle or frying pan over medium-low heat for two to three minutes.
8. Put a greased crumpet ring onto the griddle/frying pan, and spoon about 1/3 of a cup of the batter into the ring. Remember: the amount of batter you will need to make a crumpet depends on the size of your crumpet ring. Aim to get the crumpet to a thickness of about ¾ of an inch.
9. Watch for holes. If holes do not form on the crumpet-to-be, add a little more warm water - one tablespoon at a time - to the batter in the bowl and try again. If the batter is too runny and leaks out under from underneath the ring, work in a little more all-purpose flour and try again. Once the batter is at the right consistency, cook the crumpets in batches of three.
10. Flip the crumpet. When the crumpet's top is covered with holes (this should take around seven minutes) it is ready to be flipped. To flip a crumpet, remove the ring using tongs, and then flip the crumpet with a spatula.
11. Cook the second side of the crumpet until it turns pale golden brown. Remove the crumpet from the griddle.
12. Serve the warm crumpets with your topping (I actually like to put them in the toaster, and then butter them and drizzle some honey)

Recipe from Wiki How