U.K. Crumpets

There are few foods more British than the crumpet. It is a bread that some might find a bit odd in appearance. It looks like an English muffin, but technically it is not.  It is sold as bread is but technically it is a griddle cake made from flour and yeast.

The crumpet is small and circular like a Muffin but it has a softer, almost pudding like taste.  They look like circular bath sponges because they have very large holes, that are quite useful for soaking up butters and jams.  They are usually about seven inches in diameter and have a flat top with many variably sized pores and a chewy texture.

Interestingly the crumpet must always be toasted or it is not completely cooked.  They are cooked and packaged as slightly soft so they will keep better.  Most are designed so that they fit easily in any toaster.  The toasting completes the cooking process.

Crumpets can be topped up with just about anything. They are delicious topped with just butter or jam. It is very traditional to serve a crumpet topped with butter and Vegemite or Marmite (a vitamin-rich spread made from brewer’s yeast extract.)

The crumpet is a very old food thought to be first served up by the Celts. They have softened up since the time of their origin. Food anthropologists are quite sure that crumpets were a little harder than they are today.  They were not made with yeast like they are today and the result was a harder little cake.

The crumpet is said to have gotten its name because it may have curled up on the griddle while cooking.  Also in Welsh, a flat pancake is called a crempog or crempot.

The crumpet is also not always called a crumpet. For instance, in the English Midlands a crumpet is also called a pikelet.  The pikelet, or piglydd as it was called in the seventeenth century has thinner crisper edges.

The Scottish have their own variation of the classic crumpet. These are made with baking soda and tend to have a smooth surface. Often raisins or fruit are also baked inside the crumpet.  It resembles a very large scone.

To further confuse things the crumpet is also a slang word that means attractive older woman.  Sometimes it is also used in English tabloids to describe women who have beauty combined with brains as in “That Helen Mirren is quite a crumpet!”