Sunday, June 26, 2005

Sunday Brunch: Sourdough Crumpets

If you keep a sourdough starter, like I do, you know that you have to throw out a bit every time you feed it - unless you bake a loaf every day. Usually I'll just bite the bullet and toss the unfed starter, but sometimes I'll try and do something with it. King Arthur has some great recipes, including one for making Sourdough Crumpets with that leftover starter!
All you do is add a bit of sugar, salt and baking soda to the starter and toss it in a dry frying pan to cook like a pancake. The baking soda neutralises the acidity of the starter and, in the process, creates lots of air bubbles, which are perfect for filling with butter, honey or lemon curd. The crumpets are best fresh and crisp off the grill, so eat them as you make them. If you make more than you can eat in one sitting, just pop the leftover crumpets in the toaster to crisp them up again.
KA's recipe is great and super easy. Once you've made these, you won't even need a recipe! It calls for the use of a 4 inch crumpet ring (or other circular, hollow tin), but it works just fine if you don't use one. I don't have a crumpet ring, so I did mine free-form. They're a bit thinner this way, but no less tasty.