Lennox’s Crumpets

Lennox (my son) has always been quite the committed chef. Years ago, he came into my room with a picture of some beautiful homemade crumpets he wanted to make. We had to tweak the recipe a little to suit New Zealand ingredients, but he was involved right through to the end. They’ve since become a firm family favourite.


Ingredients

  • 225g flour, sifted

  • Pinch of salt, sifted

  • 150ml milk

  • 125ml hot water

  • 1 tsp sugar

  • 1 tsp active yeast

  • ¼ tsp baking soda

  • 70ml warm water

  • 1 tbsp butter

Method

  1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, combine the milk, hot water, sugar and yeast, and stir until you see a bit of action (bubbles).

  2. Stir the yeast mixture into the flour and beat well with a wooden spoon until smooth. Cover and allow to rest in a warm place for 20 minutes.

  3. Dissolve the baking soda in the warm water, then stir into the risen dough mixture. Cover and rest for a further 30 minutes.

  4. Heat a crepe plate or frypan (not too hot).

  5. Oil some crumpet rings and place them on the crepe plate. Put a small knob of butter on the base of each ring and add a large spoonful of crumpet mixture inside the rings, being careful not to deflate the mixture.

  6. Cook for 5 minutes, until bubbles form. Remove the ring gently and flip the crumpet over. It should hold its shape. Cook on the second side for about 4 minutes, or until dry to the touch. Continue with the remaining mixture.

  7. Serve with maple syrup, berry compote and whipped butter.

Note: To whip the butter, simply cream it as you would for a cake, but without the sugar. Pipe into little dollops. You can make these days in advance and store them in the chiller, or freeze them for months.

Berry Compote

Ingredients

  • Frozen mixed berries

  • Sugar

  • 2 tbsp cornflour

  • 50ml water

Method

  1. Place the berries in a colander and put the colander over a pot so the berries can thaw and the juice is collected in the pot.

  2. Dissolve the cornflour in the water.

  3. When the berries are 90% thawed, sweeten the juice with a little honey, sugar or maple syrup, if needed. Bring the juice to the boil, then whisk in the cornflour mixture a little at a time until it has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Boil, stirring, for an extra minute.

  4. Turn off the heat and gently fold the berries through so they are super glossy and coated.

  5. This is ready to put into a glass bowl on the table for your crumpets.