Whole-Wheat Crumpets With Mock Clotted Cream

I cheat a little with the crumpets, frying them up free-form without employing crumpet or English-muffin rings. They come out flat, like pancakes, with a deep yeasty flavor and crisp crust. Though if you like molds, try using cookie cutters: hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades give the party a very “Alice in Wonderland” feel.

Hot crumpets beg for clotted cream. Traditional recipes call for simmering cream for a couple of hours in a double boiler, then removing and chilling the cream, or clot, that forms on top. I did this once, and it was delicious, though not entirely worth it since you can buy clotted cream, or make a fake, mascarpone-based version that’s just as good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm milk
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 ½ cups warm water
• 1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup mascarpone
• 6 tablespoons heavy cream
• Vegetable oil for cooking

• Nutritional Information

  • Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

    474 calories; 25 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 67 milligrams cholesterol; 810 milligrams sodium

  Note: Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available data.
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6 to 8 servings

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, yeast and honey. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until the mixture becomes foamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Whisk in the warm water, both flours, salt and baking powder until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour.
3. To prepare the mock clotted cream, in a medium bowl, whisk together the mascarpone and cream until thick and stiff. Chill until ready to serve.
4. To prepare the crumpets, set a griddle over medium-low heat and oil it. To make flat, pancakelike crumpets, spoon the batter onto the griddle and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on one side and 1 to 2 minutes on the other. To make the crumpets using English-muffin rings or cookie cutters, oil them liberally and place on the skillet. Spoon in batter 1/4-inch high. Let the crumpets cook until dry around the edges and bubbles have formed over the surface, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the rings and wipe clean. Turn crumpets over and cook until lightly browned, another 2 to 3 minutes. Re-oil the griddle and each ring before making another batch.

1 hour