American crumpets with salted caramel sauce and poached pears are the perfect start to your day. A thicker, smaller version of our traditional pancakes, American pancakes are also called crumpets, flapjacks and pikelets. They can be sweet or savoury (omit the sugar if serving with a savoury topping) and make either a fabulous breakfast or dessert dish. Make your mixture the night before and cover it overnight, or sneak out of bed a little early to give it that hour to rest.
American crumpets with salted caramel sauce and poached pears
Ingredients
Crumpets
- 250g self-raising flour
- 30ml (2 tbsp) castor sugar
- 1 jumbo egg
- 10ml (2 tsp) oil
- 250ml (1 cup) milk
- 250ml (1 cup) water
- a pinch of salt
Poached pears & Caramel sauce
- 200g unsalted butter
- 150g (¾ cup) light brown sugar
- 160g (¾ cup) castor sugar
- 150g corn syrup, or substitute golden syrup
- 250ml (1 cup) thick cream
- 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- 5ml (1 tsp) Maldon Sea Salt, to taste
Pears
- 1L (4 cups) water
- 300g (1½ cups) sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise
- 6 cloves
- 4 pears, peeled
Instructions
For the crumpets, whisk all of the ingredients together until you have a smooth, velvety thick mixture. Allow it to stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour before using. If you leave it overnight, the mixture may require additional water.
Heat a crepe or non-stick frying pan and brush with a little oil.
Drop a ladle of mixture onto the hot pan and cook until small bubbles ‘pop’ on the surface. Flip over and cook for a few minutes on the other side.
For the caramel sauce, combine all of the ingredients, except the salt, in a heavy-based pot and stir over medium heat, about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the salt.
For the pears, heat the water and sugar in a large pot until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the spices and pears. Cover with a round of greaseproof paper, with a small hole cut in the centre for steam to escape (like a paper lid).
Simmer the pears until cooked, about 15 – 25 minutes depending on the variety of pear used. Remove from the heat and leave the pears to cool in the liquid.
Serve with the sauce and crumpets.
