Oops! I Did It Again

Back during Q1 of 2010, I resolved to become a “flogger” — aka, a food blogger. We are now wading in the waters of Q4, and it is time to reflect upon lessons learned. First, being a flogger has not given me more dinner-party-chit-chat material. In fact, I haven’t been invited to any dinner parties since Q1. Therefore, I have not appeared to be any more superficially interesting than before 2010. Second, this good-bloggers-blog-often thing really stymies my stunning creative abilities, as well as my freedom and overwhelming desire to watch The Bourne Identity/Supremacy/Ultimatum every other night.

In the spirit of honesty, I feel compelled to tell you that I didn’t even follow the below crumpet recipe. Not following the recipe, and then waiting 16 days to write about it sans notes, must be the cardinal sin in the flogging world. People have excuses for everything, and mine are that I executed this recipe while jet-lagged and in a 6:30am pilates class, so it’s no wonder that Beranbaum’s careful recipe instructions fell by the wayside.

Even faux floggers have their redeeming qualities, and mine is the quality of being a “teller”, something not uncharacteristic amongst unaccountable, self-entitled youngest siblings. So let me instruct you, dear reader and flour-eater, to either follow the below recipe, or do what 99.9% of crumpet-lovers do and buy the manufactured version of the hole-y, and squidgy batter bread. Either way, the end product instructions are these: toast the crumpet, apply a light coat of butter (not marge), and finish with an even lighter layer of Marmite.

Crumpets
recipe adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s the bread bible
Yield: 8 crumpets
Time: Prep: 1.5 hours; Cooking time: about 10 minutes per batch

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dry milk
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (separated)
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon melted butter

Equipment:
Hand-held mixer
14″ cast iron skillet or griddle
4 3-4″ biscuit cutters

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in ¾ cup of the warm water, then dissolve the yeast and allow it to proof for 10 minutes
2. In a medium bowl, mix the batter; whisk together the flour, dry milk, and salt
3. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of liquids, and mix with the mixer until well-mixed and no flour bits remain, about 5 minutes
4. Scrape the batter into a container, cover, and allow to double, about 1 hour
5. Mix the baking soda in with the remaining bit of water, and stir it into the batter; allow to double and get bubbly again, about 30 minutes
6. Pre-heat the skillet/griddle over medium low heat/275°; butter up the insides of the biscuit rings, and place them onto the heated surface
7. Spoon the batter into the rings, about a half inch high; once the tops of hole-y and no longer shiny, flip them over and lightly brown the tops as well
8. Cool on wire racks; store in freezer for up to 3 months

Tagged with: batter • caution • marmite
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This entry was posted on Monday, October 18th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under bread, brit-brit, yeast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.