Muffins WAS Re: Pies, puddings, biscuits and tarts + rolls, buns, muffins, ...

[bluesqueak]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Vicki" <morrigan at b...> 
wrote:
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: joywitch_m_curmudgeon
> 
> > Just to confuse matters, we Americans also eat these things
> > called "English Muffins" which are totally unlike the cupcake 
looking
> > things that are every other kind of muffin.  English muffins are
> > round and flattish, not sweet, and when you slice them in half 
> > they have a lot of holes and look (and taste) a little bit like 
> > a crumpet(which we DON'T have here, but I had one once in some 
> > Ye Olde English Pub type place.)  Toasted English muffins are 
> > yummy with butter on them because you get pools of hot butter  
> > in  the little holes.<Snip>

Morrigan:
> As has been discussed before, English muffins do not exist in 
> England.  Most likely they are bastardized crumpets, as there 
> certainly are similarities, but crumpets are far superior to my 
> tastebuds.  <Snip>> Morrigan

Wrong, wrong, WRONG!

What you actually mean is that for a long time (English) muffins 
were not available in British shops. Don't ask me why. You had to 
bake them yourself - my grandmother used to bake muffins, and they 
were pretty much as Joywitch describes.

The recipe is as follows: [This one is from Delia Smith, not my 
grandmother - my grandmother used to cook her muffins in an oven]

Measurements in British Imperial and Metric.

1 pound (450 grammes) strong white flour
1 rounded teaspoon (about 5 millilitres) salt
8 fluid ounces milk (about 225 millilitres)
2 fluid ounces water (55 millilitres)
1 teaspoon caster sugar (very fine sugar, about 5 millilitres)
2 level teaspoons dried yeast (about 10 millilitres)
Some lard

Heat the milk and water until it is hand hot. Take it off the heat, 
and mix in the dried yeast. Leave it until it's frothy (about 10 
minutes).

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, then pour the frothy 
yeast mixture into a well in the centre. Mix it to a dough. It 
should leave the bowl cleanly; if it's too wet add a little more 
flour, if too dry a little more water.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes, then leave it in a warm place to 
rise. It should double in size (45 minutes or more).

Take the risen dough, and roll it out on a flat surface until it's 
about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. Using a 3 inch round cutter (7.5 cm) 
cut out 12 rounds. You may need to re-roll the dough a couple of 
times.

Place the muffins on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover them, and 
leave them to rise for a second time. This time it should be for 25 
to 35 minutes (in a warm place).

To griddle cook:
Grease the griddle (a good heavy frying pan can also be used) with 
the lard. Heat the pan over a medium heat, and cook the muffins for 
7 minutes each side, BUT as soon as the muffins hit the pan turn the 
heat down to low. You'll need to do this in 3 or 4 batches.

The correct way to eat a muffin is to first break them a little 
around the waist, then toast them lightly each side, then after 
toasting finish pulling them apart (ok, if you don't fancy this you 
can slice them - but it's cheating). Insert lots of butter.



They last about 2 days in an airtight tin. This may be why they 
vanished from the shops for a while - on display they have to be 
sold the day they're made. I suspect the supermarket version is full 
to bursting of preservatives.

Pip