A Toast Of Britain : Crumpets

The art of toasting developed alongside the concept of the afternoon tea. There is a rich tradition of baking throughout regional Britain and many of the recipes are best eaten toasted and drenched with melted butter.

Crumpets are a fine example of just such a traditional baking recipe.

Most bakery products are best eaten on the day they are produced and will quickly soften and go stale if kept for too long. But even two or three day old breads and buns can be very successfully rejuvenated by splitting, toasting and serving hot with butter.

When I was younger and we had an open fire in the house, many a cold Sunday afternoon was brightened up by skewering split buns, muffins, bread or crumpets on a long-handled fork and toasting them over the open flames for an informal tea-time treat.