advertisement

British breakfast for wedding watchers

If you plan to watch the much anticipated nuptials of Prince William and fair Kate Middleton, you're going to have to get up pretty early.

With live wedding coverage starting around 3 a.m. Friday, April 29, you don't want to have to roll out of bed just after midnight to make breakfast. Enter scones and crumpets.

Scones have become popular on menus from tony bread and breakfasts to Starbucks. A leavened caky biscuit of sorts, scones can be studded with currants or other fruit or gently spiced with cinnamon. The batter comes together in minutes and requires no heavy kneading or special pans. Simply form the thick dough into a disc on a cookie sheet and slice into wedges. The scones bake in about 25 minutes and can be eaten warm or allowed to cool for eating the next day.

Crumpets are a traditional English breakfast food that fall between what we Yanks know as pancakes and English muffins. Unlike pancakes, which need to be cooked and served in short order, crumpets should be made ahead of time and toasted to order.

There are other differences as well, explains Kevin Hickey, chef at The Four Seasons Chicago.

“Pancakes are more moist, sweeter and cooked on both sides. English muffin is the Americanized version of the crumpet, cooked on both sides and drier,” said Hickey, who once served on the culinary team at Four Seasons London Canary Wharf. “Texturally (crumpets) are quite different from the American perception of a toasted bread. They never quite get crisp like an English muffin,” Hickey said.

Crumpets cook on a flat, even surface like a griddle. The thin batter must be poured into a ring mold (a clean can with the top and bottom removed would work in a pinch).

Cook the crumpets in the evening, then store them in an airtight container until you're ready to toast them in the morning. Add a dollop of clotted cream and strawberry jam or lemon curd and you're good to go.

Of course, you'll enjoy tea along with your scones or crumpets.

The British started drinking tea in the mid-1600s for medicinal purposes but the tradition became more pervasive when they began growing tea in India in the 1800s, according to Dan Robertson, founder of The Tea House, a retail and wholesale tea showroom in Naperville.

There are no hard-and-fast rules for brewing tea because there are so many taste preferences and drinking habits, he said. As a guideline, consider about 1 level teaspoon of tea leaves for an 8-ounce cup.

For black tea, like English Breakfast (because, really, what else will you be drinking to mark the occasion?) bring fresh cold water to a rolling boil. Add the leaves and steep from two to four minutes. Robertson said the fat in cream (or milk) counters the astringency and makes for a smoother drink.

Fruit and Chocolate Scones

Crumpets

  Make crumpets the day before and theyÂ’ll toast into a yummy breakfast to enjoy while watching the royal wedding. Bill Zars/bzars@dailyherald.com