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Pikelets


BruceinSanity

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Pikelets are like crumpets that have let it all hang out. They are made from a similar yeast batter but you don't need fancy rings to cook them. They should be eaten warm, either straight from the pan or after toasting like crumpets. You can just soak them in butter or add either sweet or savoury toppings.

 

Since you only need ordinary plain flour, milk, water, yeast and salt they are an excellent alternative to either shop bought or home made bread if caught miles from anywhere with no bread. It takes about 90 minutes in total to make them, of which one hour is waiting for the batter to froth up.

 

Pikelets

 

Ingredients

 

250g plain flour

1tsp dried instant yeast

350ml warm milk + water

Salt

 

Makes about eight.

 

Method

 

Place flour and yeast in bowl and whisk in milk and water mix (about 200ml of milk from the fridge and 150 ml of boiling water should be the right temperature).

Whisk until smooth and of the consistency of double cream

Cover bowl and leave in warm place for about an hour. The batter should be frothy.

Grind in a generous portion of salt, about half a teaspoon and whisk a bit more.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan or griddle to medium heat.

Grease lightly or spray with neutral oil.

Drop a large spoonful of batter into the pan. About one and a bit serving spoonfuls should be right.

Wait whilst batter sets, rises a bit and develops a holey top. This takes a couple of minutes. Then flip over and wait another couple of minutes.

When you think it's done, flip over again and check. If need be, turn it back for a while.

If this test pikelet looks ok, carry on with the rest. How many you can do at once depends on the size of the pan. The aim is to have both sides lightly bronzed, adjust heat of pan if they brown too much/not enough before being firm and cooked through.

Leave on a rack to cool a little and either eat immediately or store to toast later.

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Very seasonal, on a thoroughly miserable day like this - but be aware that pikelets ARE crumpets, it's a region variation in nomenclature. I don't get the "fancy ring" reference - pikelets/ crumpets are surely toasted, either under the grill or in front of the fire.

 

 

Some may think that they are very small people who live in caravans, but this is obviously erroneous.

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Very seasonal, on a thoroughly miserable day like this - but be aware that pikelets ARE crumpets, it's a region variation in nomenclature. I don't get the "fancy ring" reference - pikelets/ crumpets are surely toasted, either under the grill or in front of the fire.

 

 

Some may think that they are very small people who live in caravans, but this is obviously erroneous.

The crumpet recipes I've seen use a slightly wetter batter, more like single cream than double and you put metal rings on the pan or griddle so that the crumpet rises higher.

 

Then there's muffins, Staffordshire oatcakes, the list goes on. Actually, there's a tale that oatcakes are the result of Stoke men coming back from India and trying to describe chapattis to their women. The result was a cross between a pikelet and an oatcake.

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<snip>. Actually, there's a tale that oatcakes are the result of Stoke men coming back from India and trying to describe chapattis to their women. The result was a cross between a pikelet and an oatcake.

 

Unlikely, as Staffordshire and Derbyshire Oatcakes (& the Northumbrian and other places versions) have been around since before wheat became common in this country. But facts never got in the way of a good tale smile.png

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Unlikely, as Staffordshire and Derbyshire Oatcakes (& the Northumbrian and other places versions) have been around since before wheat became common in this country. But facts never got in the way of a good tale :)

Ah well, thanks for that. Such a good story, too.

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M&S sell pikelets and crumpets .I grew up with Pikelets NE Lincolnshire.

Growing up in Grimsby only posh people from London ate crumpets (I found out later) We have just opened a tea room in Lincoln and I want pikelets on the menu but BH and daughter brought up down south insist on crumpets. And why am I telling you this? Because I'm bored sat in a hotel room after finding Rod Stewart has cancelled tonight due to sore throat and we didn't get an email. So will pick an argument with my wife over pikelets and crumpets to help pass the time.

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Pike lets in my family were synonymous with drop scones, no yeast, and possibly a little pile of dried fruit in the middle.

,

 

Drop scones are what my Scottish Grandma used to call pancakes, They were cooked on a girrdle.

'

But all this talk about butter, or the healthy option of hummus ... top the bready thing with tomato puree, cheese and salami (or chorizo), cook in a hot oven, and you can't see whether it's a pikelet or a crumpet anyway!

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Drop scones are what my Scottish Grandma used to call pancakes, They were cooked on a girrdle.

'

But all this talk about butter, or the healthy option of hummus ... top the bready thing with tomato puree, cheese and salami (or chorizo), cook in a hot oven, and you can't see whether it's a pikelet or a crumpet anyway!

In my childhood home on Tyneside, drop scones were smaller and fatter than pancakes and were eaten at teatime, not as a pudding.

 

Pikelets are better than crumpets for your suggestion, IMHO, as they have a larger surface area and so can accommodate more cheese and stuff. SWMBO has taken to putting slices of ripe Camembert on her hot pikelets. Delicious but the pong is something else again.

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  • 3 years later...
On 23/11/2016 at 15:10, BruceinSanity said:

In my childhood home on Tyneside, drop scones were smaller and fatter than pancakes and were eaten at teatime, not as a pudding.

 

Pikelets are better than crumpets for your suggestion, IMHO, as they have a larger surface area and so can accommodate more cheese and stuff. SWMBO has taken to putting slices of ripe Camembert on her hot pikelets. Delicious but the pong is something else again.

Is that what they call them these days? ? ?

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