Blow those trumpets!Here come the Crumpets.

English crumpets are generally circular, roughly 8 centimetres (3 in) in diameter and 2 centimetres (³⁄₄ in) thick. Their shape comes from being restrained in the pan/griddle by a shallow ring. They have a characteristic flat top with many small pores and a chewy and spongy texture. They may be cooked until ready to eat warm from the pan but are frequently left slightly undercooked so that they may be cooled and stored before being eaten freshly toasted. They are often eaten with a spread of butter or an alternative, such as jam, honey, chocolate spread, margarine, golden syrup or yeast extract.

A Scottish crumpet is essentially a pancake cooked in a slightly different way, made from the same ingredients as a Scotch pancake, and is about 180 millimetres (7 in) diameter and 8 millimetres (0.3 in) thick. They are available plain, or as a fruit crumpet with raisins baked in, usually fried in a pan and served with a fried breakfast – they are also sometimes served with butter and jam. The ingredients include a leavening 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. It bears little resemblance to the English crumpet.

 

CRUMPETS

Ingredients

Flour – 225gms
Atta – 225gms
Salt – 10gms
Milk & Water – 600ml
Oil – 30ml
Sugar – 15gms
Yeast – 15gms
Soda-bi-carb – 2.5gms
Warm Water – 120ml

Procedure
1)    Lightly grease a griddle or a heavy based frying pan and 4×8 plain pastry cutters.
2)    Sift the flours and salt together into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Heat the milk & water, mix oil & sugar until lukewarm mix the yeast with 150ml of this liquid.
3)    Add the yeast mixture and remaining liquid to the center of the flour and beat vigorously for about 5mins until smooth and elastic. Cover and allow to rise for about 1 ½ hours till the mix is bubbly and about to fall.
4)    Dissolve the soda in the lukewarm water and stir into the batter. Re-cover for 30min.
5)    Place the cutter on the griddle and warm on a medium heat.
6)    Pour the batter into pastry cutter till 1/4th its height.
7)    Cook over a gentle heat for 6-7 min. the top should be dry with tiny holes.
8)    Serve warm with jam or butter.

Its raining gateaux…er cakes !

The term “cake” has a long history. The word itself is of Viking origin, from the Old Norse word “kaka”.

The ancient Greeks called cake πλακοῦς (plakous), which was derived from the word for “flat”, πλακόεις (plakoeis). It was baked using flour mixed with eggs, milk, nuts and honey. They also had a cake called “satura”, which was a flat heavy cake. During the Roman period, the name for cake became “placenta” which was derived from the Greek term. Placenta were baked on a pastry base or inside a pastry case.

The Greeks invented beer as a leavener, frying fritters in olive oil, and cheesecakes using goat’s milk. In ancient Rome, basic bread dough was sometimes enriched with butter, eggs, and honey, which produced a sweet and cake-like baked good. Latin poet Ovid refers his and his brother’s birthday party and cake in his first book of exile, Tristia.

Early cakes in England were also essentially bread: the most obvious differences between a “cake” and “bread” were the round, flat shape of the cakes, and the cooking method, which turned cakes over once while cooking, while bread was left upright throughout the baking process.

Sponge cakes leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain.

GATEAU CREOLE

 

 

Baking Temp: 180 degree C                                                               Portions: 01 nos

Baking Time: 15-20 minutes

 

 

Ingredients

For the sponge

Flour: 90 grams

Eggs: 03 nos

Grain sugar: 90 grams

Vanilla essence: 1/2 tsp

For the cake

Whipped cream: 250 ml

Sugar syrup: 50 ml

Mix fruits: 250 grams

(oranges, pineapple, banana, cherries)

 

Procedure

1)     Make a white sponge and leave to cool.

2)     Cut it horizontally in two portions.

3)     Soak the lower sponge in syrup.

4)     Apply ¼ whipped cream and place half the mix fruits on it.

5)     Place the other half on the sponge and soak with syrup.

6)     Apply the remaining cream to cover the sponge and decorate with the remaining fruits.