Crumpet

Acrumpet(/ˈkrʌmpɪt/) is a smallgriddlebread made from an unsweetenedbatterof water or milk,flour, andyeast, popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada,New Zealand, and South Africa.
Historically, crumpets are also regionally known aspikelets, however this is limited as pikelets are more widely known as a thinner, morepancake-like griddle bread;a type of the latter is referred to as acrumpetin Scotland.
Crumpets have been variously described as originating in Walesor as part of theAnglo-Saxondiet,based on proposed etymologies of the word. In either case, breads were, historically, commonly cooked on a griddle whereverbread ovenswere unavailable. Thebara-planc, or griddle bread, baked on an iron plate over a fire, was part of the everyday diet in Wales until the 19th century.
Small, oval pancakes baked in this manner were calledpicklets,a name used for the first recognisable crumpet-type recipe, published in 1769 byElizabeth RaffaldinThe Experienced English Housekeeper.This name was derived from theWelshbara pyglydor "pitchy [i.e., dark or sticky] bread", later shortened simply topyglyd.The early 17th century lexicographerRandle Cotgravereferred to "popelins, soft bread of fine flour, &c., fashioned like our Welshbarrapycleds".
The word spread initially to theWest Midlandsof England, where it became anglicised aspikelet,and subsequently to Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and other areas of the north; crumpets are still referred to aspikeletsin some areas. The wordcrumpetitself, of unclear origin, first appears in relatively modern times; it has been suggested as referring to a crumpled or curled-up cake, based on an isolated 14th century reference to a "crompid cake",and the Old English wordcrompeht('crumpled') being used to gloss Latinfolialis, possibly a type of thin bread.
Alternatively,crumpetmay be related to the Welshcrempogorcrempot, a type ofpancake;Bretonkrampouzhand Cornishkrampothfor 'pancakes' are etymologically cognate with the Welsh. An etymology fromFrenchcrompâte'a paste of fine flour, slightly baked',has also been suggested. However, a correspondent to ManchesterNotes and Queries, writing in 1883, claimed that thecrampet, as it was locally then known, simply took its name from the metal ring or "cramp" used to retain the batter during cooking.
The early crumpets were hardpancakescooked on a griddle, rather than the soft and spongy crumpets of theVictorian era, which were made with yeast.From the 19th century, a littlebicarbonate of sodawas also usually added to the batter.In modern times, the mass production of crumpets by large commercial bakeries has eroded some regional differences. As late as the 1950s,Dorothy Hartleynoted a wide degree of regional variation, identifying the small, thick, spongy type of crumpet specifically with the Midlands.
Crumpets are distinguished from similar sizedmuffinsby being made from abatter, rather than adough.English crumpets are generally circular, roughly 8 centimetres (3 in) in diameter and2 centimetres (3⁄4in) thick. Their shape comes from being restrained in the pan/griddle by a shallow ring. They have a characteristic flat top with many smallporesand a spongy texture which allows butter or other spreads to permeate.
Crumpets may be cooked until ready to eat warm from the pan, but are also left slightly undercooked and then toasted. While premade commercial versions are available in most supermarkets, freshly home-made crumpets are less heavy and doughy in texture.They are usually eaten with a spread ofbutter, or with other sweet or savoury toppings.
While in some areas of the country the wordpikeletis synonymous with the crumpet,in others (such asStaffordshireandYorkshire) it refers to a different recipe. A pikelet is distinguished by containing no yeast as a raising agent and by using a thinner batter than a crumpet;and as being cooked without a ring, giving a flatter result than a crumpet.InStoke-on-Trent, pikelets were once sold in the town's manyoatcakeshops and still are.A 1932 recipe for Staffordshire pikelets specifies that they were made with flour andbuttermilk, with bicarbonate of soda as a raising agent, and suggests cooking them usingbaconfat.
The termpikeletis used inAustralianandNew Zealand cuisinefor a smaller version, served cold or just warm from the pan, of what inScotlandand North America would be called apancakeand, in England, a Scotch pancake, girdle orgriddle cake, ordrop scone.
AScottishcrumpet is broadly similar to the crumpet of parts of Northern England. It is made from the same ingredients as aScotch pancake, and is about 180 millimetres (7 in) diameter and 8 millimetres (0.3 in) thick. It is available plain, or as a fruit crumpet withraisinsbaked in, usually fried in a pan and served with afried breakfast. It is also sometimes served with butter and jam. The ingredients include aleavening agent, usuallybaking powder, and different proportions of eggs, flour, and milk, which create a thin batter. Unlike a pancake, it is 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.
While now relatively uncommon in Ireland, crumpets were once produced byBoland's BakeryinDublinduring the 19th and much of the 20th centuries; Boland's recipe was subsequently used by a number of other bakeries. Irish crumpets differed from most British recipes by having a yeastless batter and being cooked on both sides, giving a smooth rather than spongy top.