Crumpets with raspberry jam

I am currently clearing out my freezer in the vain attempt to create some room for my garden's harvest this year.

 Hiding at the back, was a bag of raspberries left over from our trip to Lowe's farm last year. A pick your own day that will be remembered for the record amount of raspberries devoured by my 1 year old daughter. We managed to keep some away from her gaping jowls to bag 'em and freeze 'em. The plan was to have fresh raspberries on our cereal every morning for the next couple of months. This idea was quickly forgotten as the bramble season engulfed us and the poor raspberries left abandoned at the back of our freezer. Until now...

Raspberry jam

1kg fresh raspberries

1kg granulated sugar

(Optional lemon balm and lavender flowers)

 Place the raspberries and the sugar into a larger, heavy based saucepan and bring to the boil. The idea is to drive off the water and reduce the mixture to a spreadable, but not sloppy consistency. The most accurate and easiest way of doing this is by using a probe thermometer. Boil the mixture until the temperature reaches 104 degrees C. The temperature stays at 100 degrees for ages (as the water boils away) then it starts rising quite quickly once the sugar concentration increases.

When it hits 104 degrees pour the jam into sterilised jars (I put mine through a hot dishwasher). Then pop the lid on and leave to cool.

 

If you do not have a thermometer, use the following technique. Watch the pot of jam boiling; you will see a lot of steam rising from the jam. After about 10 minutes the jam will stop producing steam. This is when most of the water has boiled away. Take a teaspoon of the jam and pop it onto a saucer and put it into the fridge. If it sets then the jam is ready, if it is still runny you need to boil the jam a bit longer. Keep on testing the jam until you get the desired consistency

For something a bit different, I decided to flavour one pot of jam tablespoon of lemon balm from the garden and one pot with 1/2 tsp of dried lavender flowers

Of course,  raspberry jam is lost with out crumpets...

Homemade crumpets

  500g strong white flour, sifted

½ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp dried yeast

300ml warm milk

300ml  pint warm water

Vegetable oil for frying

4 metal rings 7-8cm in diameter  

In a small cup mix the yeast, sugar 100ml of the water warmed to blood temperature and 2 tablespoons of the flour. Leave this in a warm place for 10 minutes or until the mixture starts to froth.

Meanwhile put the rest of the dry ingredients into a bowl.

 

Now the yeast has activated, pour the yeast mixture into the flour followed by the milk and water, mix this until it is smooth. It will become quite a thick batter. Cover and leave in a warm place for 30- 45 minutes. It should have started to increase in volume and have bubbles on the surface. The batter is ready.

Coat the metal rings in a fine layer of oil, a pastry brush or cooking spray is great for this. Then put them into a shallow, non-stick pan and place over a very low heat. Put a drop of oil into each ring to stop the batter from sticking to the pan. Fill each ring to just over half way with the batter. Cook gently for 8-10 minutes or until the batter is set. Turn the crumpets over and cook for a further 2 minutes to toast the top.

Serve with butter, jam and a cup of tea