A muffin is a flattish, moderately dense, doughy bread roll.
A crumpet is like a thick, rubbery pancake with a spongy network of holes that penetrate all the way to the bottom crust.
OK, those are definitely more holey than any muffin I’ve eaten here in England - even the McDs lightweight muffins are holey-like-ciabatta, not holey-like-crumpets.
Muffins are traditionally not sliced though - you’re meant to pierce them all the way around with the tines of a fork, then tear them into two halves.
Most English muffins in the US seem to use a sour dough, and they have a hearty chew (high gluten development, I imagine). RobDog’s example looks rather wimpy in comparison (more like a cheap hamburger roll), but hard to say from a picture.
If my oven wasn’t on the fritz, I’d be really tempted to make some muffins now.
I’ve made English Muffins. They were kind of a pain, as you cook them on the stove-top and need to get them cooked all the way through without burning the outside.
As far as I know, they’re not made from sourdough here in the UK, although that sounds great.
They’re not exactly “wimpy” here. I’m discovering it’s hard to get an idea of what bread products are like from photos alone. They’re certainly not much like any kind of hamburger roll. They’re denser, for one thing. They’re certainly delicious, too. I like them with strong cheddar and Marmite, but I feel like I’m doing something bad.
Thanks. In all my trips to London, I never met a crumpet. Strumpets, perhaps, which it could be argued may have the same description.
In an English muffin you don’t see the holes until you split it open.
A crumpet isn’t meant to be split and the holes go all the way through. You can see your plate through them.
Also in my experience, the texture of a crumpet is lighter and crispier, a little bit more like a waffle.
Since the factual aspects of this have been answered, let’s move this over to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I never had much difficulty finding crumpets in regular American supermarkets (in Southern California, anyway). They are not an American staple like English muffins are, but they are much more common than, say, Marmite.
I do not think most are sourdough, plain ones are a common staple in America too, and there are other flavours. In Britain sourdough is not common, though.
No, no! :eek: If the holes go all the way through, the butter will all fall out the bottom!. In a normal crumpet there is a thin but dense base, without holes (or only tiny pores). If you can see your plate through it, your crumpet is defective. The whole idea is that the butter melts on the hot top surface and fills the holes, saturating the crumpet with butter. It is true, however, that the holes are essentially vertical tubes that go almost through the whole thickness of the crumpet. Muffins do not have holes/tubes of this sort, just the normal pores of a coarse bread.
Words can change meaning over time? Who knew???
Oddly, I’ve never seen a crumpet in an American supermarket, but I can find Marmite, Branstion Pickle, even Jaffa cakes. Now, not in most supermarkets, but there’s a few chains that stock them. Never seen the crumpets, though,
Where are you seeing that? According to Miss_Gnomer’s evidence, [English] muffins have been called muffins (and crumpets have been called crumpets) at least since the mid 18th century, probably longer. I do not see any evidence (in this discussion, or in my experience) of change in that, on either side of the Atlantic.
Nobody has yet explained, however, why and when American’s came to also call those cupcake-like things “muffins”.
Have you looked? Maybe it isn’t everywhere, but the Vons chain in the Los Angeles area usually used to stock them, if not always, then frequently, and, unlike the other products you mention, they were clearly made in America, not imported (despite the fact that the packaging had a Union Jack design). Maybe it was just some local SO Cal bakery that was doing them. None of the main chains regularly carried Marmite (except for the small Fresh and Easy chain, before they folded, but they were British owned anyway), and I had to seek out my fix in specialty stores. I don’t recall ever seeing Branston Pickle or Jaffa Cakes in the main chain supermarkets, either, but crumpets, yes.
I’ve occasionally bought crumpets in the U.S. At Harris Teeter, I think. I haven’t noticed them recently.
Having read only a short way into the thread, I’m going to give the names as I grew up with them, (these go back to the 1970’s in the USA) and then I’ll go back and read to see how close I’ve come to the consensus:
-
An English Muffin is a sourdough crumpet leavened with yeast.
-
A crumpet is a flattish, sweeter version of an American muffin, made with baking powder and/or soda, with large bubbles inside.
-
An American muffin is an occasional sweetish, but not sugary cake the same size as a cupcake, but with about half the sugar. It can be made very savory with sausage or cheese or on the sweeter side, but never iced or glazed. It is leavened with baking powder or soda, and the bubbles are meant to be quite small.
-
A cupcake is very sweet muffin-sized confection with vanilla or chocolate or other dessert flavoring. It is usually iced or glazed. These are occasionally served at business breakfasts where all pretend that they are muffins.
-
An American biscuit is a mixture of flour, shortening and buttermilk usually baked in rounds, very light and fluffy.
-
An English biscuit is a flat, crunchy, tasteless cookie, occasionally saved by the addition of jam or icing. It is generally palatable oly after dunking in a hot beverage.
-
A cookie is a flat crunchy or chewy, flavorful dessert with any of a hundred different combinations of extracts and additions such as chocolate chips or dried fruit.
-
A popover is a Yorkshire pudding, but always a small one baked in a muffin pan.
There, have I missed anything? Now let’s go back and see how I did!
Well, I was a bit off on crumpets, and I agree the folks above have done a much better job of describing them. I also agree that English Muffins are split before toasting while crumpets are not. I’ve always thought of crumpets as a bit rubbery, as if they were steamed rather than baked.
One of the most visible differences between muffins and crumpets are that when muffins are made (traditionally on a stove top), they’re flipped over and cooked on both sides, giving it a more roll-like appearance. Crumpets, however, aren’t flipped, creating large holes on the top of it. Also, the batter for a muffin is relatively firm, while that of a crumpet is very loose.
Crumpets are in no way sweet. A very neutral taste, suitable for butter, or even pate, unlike scones, which are usually sweetish. And commercial muffins which can, but shouldn’t, have a sweet tinge.
I browse the bakery items regularly, but haven’t seen them anywhere. As for Marmite, Branston Pickle, and the like, Meijer (a Midwestern grocery store chain) has it in the English food section. I see it regularly at another regional chain called Treasure Island. I’m pretty sure it’s also available at Mariano’s (another regional chain) and I’ve seen at least Marmite at Whole Foods, as well. Jaffa Cakes are a more recent addition. Those I had been searching for for awhile, but only saw them show up in the last year or two, at Meijer’s. (Perhaps they weren’t distributed in the US before?) Also, there is Cost Plus World Market, which is kind of mish-mash of stuff from furniture to beers to various condiments and non-perishable foods. They’re also the only place I know of to get Vegemite around here (and they have Marmite and Branston Pickle as well, except for that brief time when there was that Branston factory fire or whatever it was). None of the other stores that stock Marmite stock Vegemite. I’m also fairly certain I’ve seen Marmite at some Jewel Food Stores (an Albertsons company, and the most popular grocery store in the Chicago area), and an Internet check does confirm my memories. The trick is figuring out where the Marmite is. If there an international section, that’s the best bet, but otherwise, it can take some sleuthing to figure out where they stock it.
I’ll have a look more closely next time.
Recipes:
More of a batter, like pancakes.
More of a traditional kneaded bread dough.