Tuesday 31 August 2021

The Crumpet Project

 



Recently I saw a post asking what people put on their crumpets. There were a lot of people who favour butter & marmalade

 or butter & honey

 or butter & vegemite. I'm very familiar with all of those but there were a few options I haven't tried:

crumpet and egg

crumpet with cheese

crumpet with butter, salt and pepper.

The most elaborate one was two crumpets sandwiched together with peanut butter, nutella, condensed milk and cheese. The whole thing was toasted in a pan.

I decided on a a little lockdown experiment so I'm eating crumpets for breakfast this week and I'll try some of the unfamiliar options.

I can tell you that peanut butter, nutella, condensed milk & cheese is acceptable but not as interesting as I had hoped.

Crumpet with scrambled egg is nice enough but I prefer the textural contrast of egg and toast.


Do you eat crumpets? what do you put on them?


30 comments:

  1. As strange as it may appear to you, despite having travelled extensively in the UK, Australia etc, I have never had crumpets. I shall remedy that immediately as they are available here too and may be write a blog post about it.

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    1. I'll be interested to hear how you like them. Ive heard them compared to murtabak, which you might know. Murtabak is far superior in my opinion

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  2. Butter and honey on crumpets Kylie.
    Sadly they don’t taste the same cooked in the toaster as they used to done in front of an open fire on the end of a great long toasting fork. So under the grill they go (still not the same though)

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    1. I've never had crumpets toasted on an open fire, neither have I had homemade ones. I agree that butter and honey is an excellent choice!

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  3. I adore crumpets, which is something I sorely miss from home. I do occasionally make my own, but I miss the convenience of being able to grab a pack at the supermarket whenever I want.

    My favourite topping is butter, Vegemite and a slice of cheese.

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    1. Are your home made ones better? and can you buy vegemite in Sweden?

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    2. I can buy small jars of Vegemite at an outrageous price from an imported food firm here - I buy 12 jars at a time to last a year. I've even converted my Swedish husband to having it on his morning toast.

      Home made crumpets are lovely and they toast up beautifully. They aren't hard to make, but sometimes I just wish I could buy them ready made. I also have the same issue with things like hot cross buns, mince pies, English muffins, finger buns etc. Yes I can (and do) make them, but I am lazy as well so would happily buy them if I could.

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  4. I don't eat crumpets but Jenny and I are very partial to hot cross buns - even though Easter is a long way behind us.

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    1. Hot cross buns are better than crumpets! I eat them the whole time they are available!

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  5. I've never had a crumpet. We do eat English Muffins here, which according to Mr. Google are similar but not the same, crumpets having a higher amount of moisture and fat. If I understand the composition of crumpets correctly, I think I would venture that I'd prefer butter and something sweet on them, like jam or jelly or even molasses, rather than a savoury topping. I'm looking forward to reading about the results of your experiments!

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    1. Crumpets have the tyexture of a very open sponge, quite different from the bread style texture of muffins. I do love a sweet topping and golden syrup was one that appeared on the list a lot (I think molasses in your part of the world is a lighter syrup like our golden syrup?)

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    2. Our regular molasses is deep brown, almost black, and we can also get blackstrap molasses which is even darker. We also have corn syrup which is golden in colour, and also white corn syrup which is basically clear. And then we have maple syrup, and "pancake syrup" (a cheaper substitute for maple syrup, made of water and sugar and artificial flavour - blegh - but it's popular). I wonder which of these would be closest to your golden syrup?!

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  6. I do like crumpets but (at the moment) they need to have a savoury edge. Cheese and chutney is the flavour of the moment.

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    1. Good old cheese and chutney, I do grilled cheese on toast with chutney.

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  7. Are crumpets the same as pikelets?
    Maurice Gee's characters have tea and pikelets: See his novels *Meg* + *Prowlers*.
    Do pikelets appear in Janet Frame's books too? I need to re-read her.

    Shop-bought crumpets and pancakes are nothing special.
    They have to come warm from the griddle, wrapped in a fresh dish towel.
    My mother always made them on Shrove Tuesday and at other times too.
    Eaten with jam or butter or lemon juice.

    My tutor went for tea to E.M. Foster's rooms at King's College, Cambridge.
    The novelist, who lapsed into permanent silence after *A Passage to India*, produced a plum cake from a tin. His standard fare.
    Virginia Woolf said afternoon tea often meant slices of bread + butter no jam or cake.

    In Andre Gide's early memoir *Si le grain ne meurt* (1920) young Gide visits the home of his friend whose father is a Protestant minister.
    It is after Christmas and the minister's wife serves Twelfth Night Cake.
    Does anyone bake Twelfth Night Cake now? Or Simnel Cake at Easter?
    Jack H

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    1. Pikelets are like a small pancake but crumpets are thicker and have a sponge like texture. My mum made pikelets with jam and cream, my neighbour used to put cheese and butter on them. I think pikelets are better than crumpets.

      I have never even heard of Twelfth Night Cake but I have heard of simnel cake.

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    2. The crumpets in your photo are more tempting than cake, so too your mother's pikelets. Jam was marketed in order to give factory workers more energy.

      Henry James liked afternoon tea, dinner was served quite late.
      I am reading *The Europeans* a witty account of the upper classes, ironic when my ancestors (and yours) toiled away in coalmines, foundries + factories.

      I like the idea of Twelfth Night as I like the idea of the Epiphany (January 6) and Shrove Tuesday. Easter is a moveable feast, once the cause of much dispute.

      There is no liturgical year in evangelical churches and it is a loss.
      Septuagesima is the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third before Ash Wednesday.
      What could be more beautiful? So too the saints + Stations of the Cross.

      You might like the YouTube vlogs of Father Ed Trevors an Episcopalian priest from Nova Scotia; he has Sunday readings from his home with his two small children and his wife, an ordained minister.

      The Episcopal Church is too liberal for me (see Alisa Childers on progressive Christianity: YouTube) but Father Trevors is a pastor to his flock.
      Jack Haggerty

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  8. Believe it or not I can get crumpets in the dairy section of a couple of markets near me. I had no idea how I was supposed to eat them so I just warmed them on a griddle and ate them with butter. I thought they were delicious just that way, but now I am going to have to buy them again and try the other ways.

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    1. Warm with butter is really perfect, Anne. I did see someone saying if the butter isn't running down your elbows you don't have enough 😊

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  9. Crumpets are peculiar, and I can live without them - but once upon a time I would have eaten them with butter or cheese.
    They are not dunkable, and they are not cake!
    Sx

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    1. I live without crumpets most of the time but sometimes we have a run on them. I have to say, dunkability is a plus when considering snacks

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  10. Ah crumpets. So unique. I have tried them with egg and cheese, salsa and banana (I know, I'm weird) butter and marmalade. Even peanut butter and jam. I like how the little holes hold things together.

    XO
    WWW

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    1. Salsa and banana sounds "interesting". Peanut butter and jam is a good combo, I especially like marmalade and peanut butter

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  11. I have never had a crumpet. But, it looks like I would like it with butter and jelly/jam or with scrambled eggs. Now, I must find some to try.

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    1. I wasn't sure if they were available in the US, I'll be interested to see if you can find them some where nearby. I recommend jelly and butter or even butter and peanut butter

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  12. Had a scone once in Victoria, British Columbia in Canada but have never had a crumpet. Are they good with mushy peas?

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    1. I havent even thought of crumpet with mushy peas and I can't seem to find mushy peas in the shops any more. I thinkit would be a little lacking in texture but thats just me

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    2. Wait, you've only had one scone in your life???? you're missing out

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  13. I'm probably going to sound like a wowser but crumpets annoy the hell out of me. Possibly because when I do eat them - which is very rarely - the butter and honey end up seeping through the crumpet, onto the plate and all over my fingers. It tastes great but being sticky just isn't my thing.

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    1. Yea, they aren't the cleanest thing to eat and the texture is kida weird but they make a change from toast!
      Do you like mangoes?

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