Mrs. Judson’s Cheese Crumpet Recipe (The Great Mouse Detective)

INTRODUCTION

Welcome back friends! This week we are baking Mrs. Judson’s cheese crumpets from Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective!

These crumpets are featured when Olivia Flaversham and Dr. Dawson arrive at Basil’s apartment. Mrs. Judson (Basil’s maid) offers and serves them before Basil sets off on a lead, Olivia managing to snag a few before they rush off.

I am going to be so bold as to say that these are not traditional crumpets. Disney usually does their homework pretty thoroughly so I may be wrong, but perhaps they meant scones? Traditional crumpets look like the ones I made for Ratty and Mole’s Recipe in November, cooked on a flat surface within round rings. It was very hard to achieve the puffed look from the film using a crumpet recipe in a muffin tin, but I tried twice. The first time I used the recipe from Ratty and Mole’s Crumpets and added cheese, but they were very deflated up top. The second time I got a bit more lift by using baking powder instead of baking soda. Neither option had as much lift and puff as the cartoon, but they both taste cheesy and delicious so use what you have available!

BAKED CHEESE CRUMPETS

• 1 teaspoon of cane sugar
• 1 tablespoon of dried active yeast
• 1 cup of warm milk
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 cup of warm water
• 1 cup of shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar)

INSTRUCTIONS (CRUMPETS)

1. Stir the sugar and yeast into the warm milk and let it rest for 10 minutes until frothy.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt.
3. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and stir/knead until a thick dough forms.
4. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place for an hour to let the dough rise.
5. Dissolve the baking powder in the warm water and add it to the dough. Using a mixer, beat the dough for about one or two minutes. Any remaining lumps will dissolve during the next resting stage.
6. Lightly coat the shredded cheese with flour, add it to the batter and stir to incorporate.
7. Lightly grease a muffin pan and scoop the batter into it, filling each space no more than 2/3 full.
8. Cover the batter while it’s in the pan and let it rest again in a warm place for at least 30 minutes. The batter should be nice and bubbly.
9. While the batter is resting for its final 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 400F.
10. Bake the crumpets for about 20-30 minutes until they are lightly golden. Keep an eye on them, everyone’s oven is different!
11. Remove the muffin pan from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
12. Remove the cheese crumpets from the muffin pan and serve warm, or you can reheat them later!