I was under the mistaken impression crumpets would look like small eclairs or cream puffs, but the crumpet is apparently a cross between an English muffin and a pancake. These pictured above, which we watched being made, started out as batter poured into ring-shaped molds on a large griddle (this is the pancake-y part). Then, the griddle top was closed in with a sort of tent wall made of large metal sheets (about the size of large cookie sheets) leaned over to meet the top of the stove, making the cooking environment more oven-like. Once the crumpets had finished baking on the griddle, the crumpets in their molds were removed from the cooking surface and, after resting on a table for a few minutes, the metal rings were removed.
So, where were we? The Crumpet Shop is near Pike Place Market in Seattle. There, crumpets are served hot - with a wide variety of sweet and savory toppings. A number of teas may also be had. I chose Nutella and ricotta. Others in the party enjoyed pesto with tomato and one with marmalade and butter.
For what it's worth, ricotta doesn't have a lot of flavor, but it is so rich and thick that it is perfect between the crumpet and the chocolate hazelnut spread. The crumpet is crispy and soft and eggy and bready and quite nice!
More pics to come once I have a full-sized computer at hand. Thanks for your patience!
2 comments:
i finally had a crumpet at the end of my tea experience one day at lovejoys tearoom here in SF. We liked them best with just butter. Lemon curd, not so much.
Ooh, I love lemon curd! But butter is so nice on a crumpet.
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