We made these teddy bear crumpets from scratch as a bit of a culinary science project but you could make them with the store-bought variety for a quick and easy breakfast option.
What you will need
- crumpets – you’ll need two for each teddy, one for the face and another one for the ears (recipe below if you want to make these yourself)
- butter or margarine
- honey
- strawberry or raspberry jam for the ears
- banana
- blueberries (or black grapes) for the eyes
- pink grape (or strawberry) for the nose
- nutella for the mouth
- a small snaplock bag or piping bag
Making the crumpets
We found this recipe on taste.com.au but we’ve reproduced it here for your convenience. A word of warning before you begin: there is a lot of ‘resting’ time involved in the making of these (an hour and 40 mins, in fact) so if your little chef is a bit lacking in the patience department, it might be best to skip this part and use store-bought crumpets! The end product is also a bit denser and less ‘bubbly’ than commercial crumpets so might not be to everyone’s taste (that said, Mr Nearly-2 refused to go back to eating the store-bought ones after trying these!).
Ingredients:
Method:
1. Combine the sugar and yeast in a medium bowl. Gradually pour in the warm milk and water and stir until yeast dissolves. Cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm, draught-free place for 10 minutes or until mixture is frothy.
2. Combine the flour, bread improver and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draught-free place to prove for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
3. Combine extra water and bicarbonate of soda in a jug. Use an electric beater to beat the flour mixture for 1 minute or until mixture deflates. Gradually add the water mixture, beating well between additions, until well combined and smooth. Cover batter with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes to rest.
4. Brush a large non-stick frying pan with vegetable oil to lightly grease. Brush six 7.5cm-diameter non-stick egg rings with oil to lightly grease. Place egg rings in frying pan over medium-low heat. Pour 60ml (1/4 cup) of batter into each ring. Cook for 7 minutes or until large bubbles come to the surface, the base is golden and the top is set. Use an egg lifter to turn and cook for a further 1 minute or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack and remove egg rings. Set crumpets aside. Repeat, in 4 more batches, with remaining batter, greasing and reheating the pan and egg rings with oil between each batch. Serve crumpets with butter and honey.
Decorating the crumpets
1. Once you’ve made your crumpets, spread the crumpet you’re using for the face with butter and honey.
2. Cut out some ears from another crumpet and spread with jam in the middle of each ear.
3. Add the banana, grapes and blueberries (or whatever alternative fruit you’re using) for the facial features. (Tip: Cut out the fruit pieces right before you start to cook the crumpets so you can decorate them quickly and eat them while they’re still warm.)
4. To make the mouth, put a good blob of nutella into a snaplock bag and cut out the corner (or use a piping bag) and pipe it on.
5. Enjoy your crumpet teddy bears!
