crumpet

A buttered crumpet

A crumpet ( krʌmpɪt (help·info)) is a savoury/sweet bread snack made from flour and yeast. It is eaten mainly in the United Kingdom and other nations of the Commonwealth.

Etymology

Look up crumpet in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Crumpets were an Anglo-Saxon invention.^{[citation needed]} In early times, they were hard pancakes cooked on a griddle, rather than the soft and spongy crumpets of the Victorian era which were made with yeast. The crumpet-makers of the Midlands and London developed the characteristic holes, by adding extra baking powder to the yeast dough. The term itself may refer to a crumpled or curled-up cake, or have Celtic origins relating to the Breton krampoez meaning a "thin, flat cake" and the Welsh crempog or crempot, a type of pancake. However, since many English words share a heritage with other Germanic languages, it may be cognate with the similar German word krumm (from Middle High German krump, krum) which means "bent".^[1]

The English crumpet

Crumpets are generally circular though rectangular varieties also exist. They have a distinctive flat top with many small pores and a resilient, slightly spongy texture, being very porous. Crumpets alone are bland and generally eaten hot with a topping (usually butter). Other popular accompaniments include cheese when melted on top of the crumpet, honey, poached egg, jam, Marmite, salt, marmalade, peanut butter, cheese spread, golden syrup, lemon curd, maple syrup and Vegemite. In Australia, square crumpets can be purchased from supermarkets, designed to easily fit in a standard toaster.^{[citation needed]}

A pikelet is similar to a crumpet, but thinner, without holes and sometimes irregularly shaped. However, the meaning of pikelet varies: in some regions of Britain it traditionally refers to a crumpet without holes (for example in the Midlands) around Wolverhampton, muffin or other teacake. In other British regions, Australia and New Zealand, it refers to a Scotch pancake.

The Scottish crumpet

A Scottish fruit crumpet folded over, behind a Scottish pancake.

A Scottish crumpet is made from the same ingredients as a Scottish pancake, and is about 180 mm (7 inches) diameter and 8 mm (0.3 inches) thick. They are available plain, or as a fruit crumpet with raisins baked in, and are not reheated before serving; condiments include jam, vegemite and marmite. The ingredients include a raising agent, usually baking powder, and different proportions of eggs, flour and milk which create a thin batter. Unlike a pancake, they are cooked to brown on one side only, resulting in a smooth darker side where it has been heated by the griddle, then lightly cooked on the other side which has holes where bubbles have risen to the surface during cooking.^[2] It bears little resemblance to the English crumpet, and is not generally found in England.

This is the normal kind of crumpet in Scottish bakers' shops, tea rooms, and cafés, though the English type of crumpet is often obtainable in supermarkets in addition to the Scottish kind.

Slang term

The word crumpet in British English is also a term for a woman regarded as an object of desire. It was in this sense that humorist Frank Muir dubbed Joan Bakewell "the thinking man's crumpet" following her appearances in highbrow television discussion programmes such as BBC2's Late Night Line-Up. The phrase has subsequently been used to refer to other women who are intelligent and good looking, particularly if they have a high profile in the broadcast media.^[3]. The word has since been used to refer to men as well, usually humorously.

External links

• Recipe for crumpets by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
• Recipe for crumpets on bakingmad.com

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Crumpets