Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

 

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

UPDATE ON 24-4-2016

Today, I have decided share another new recipe that I have designed which make it easier and fluffier and softer.  Please scroll down for recipe 2 in red words for new recipe.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)


INTRODUCTION

English muffins caught my attention in one of my old cook books (“The Essential Baking Cookbook” published by Murdoch Books in year 2000) that I bought more than 10 years ago.  It is not because of the word “English” or the word “muffins” but the shape of the muffins. When I looked at the picture, it immediately remind me of the red bean paste bread that Doreamon like to eat. (Note: I know very clearly the two bread are not the same as English muffins will definitely be denser than Japanese breads).  It is flat, light coloured and looks soft and I told myself that I must try to prepare it.  The muffins just looked so plain but elegant.

 Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼) Source: The Essential Baking Cookbook Page 243., Murdoch Books 2000


ENGLISH MUFFINS DEFINED

Per Wikipedia,

“A muffin or English muffin is a small, round, flat (or thin) type of yeast-leavened bread which is commonly served split horizontally, toasted, and buttered. Muffins may be clean-sliced or fork-split, the latter yielding a less regular, more textured surface. A distinct species of baked good, sometimes called American-style muffins are more cakelike. They are commonly eaten in the United States.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_muffin)

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)


THE UNSUCCESSFUL FIRST ATTEMPT

Two days ago, I followed the recipe in the book with slight modifications and the outcome is less than desirable.  I sincerely believed that it may not be the recipe’s inaccuracy but it is more of my own faults in measurements and timing. I have posted my failed attempt pictures in Google Plus Communities and asking my circles of friends to help me identify the possible causes. Below is an excerpt of the correspondences.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

 

Guaishushu posted this question:

“ Dear friends, I am baking a batch of English muffins this afternoon. And this is how it looked like. Is it normal? What is happening? Any feedback is appreciated!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Friend A : They have to be flat, Ken. Without knowing your recipe, I can’t say much but it’s obvious that they’ve risen too much.

Guaishushu

Really thank you. I knew it should be flat like some sort of Japanese bread, smooth and soft. My recipe is

7g dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
500 g of plain flour
350 ml of lukewarm milk
1 egg
40 g butter

-Hand knead until well mixed and smooth
-Normal proofing until double in size
-Punch and knead for 2 minutes
-Shaping and second proofing for another 10 minutes
-Baked in 200 degree Celsius for 15 minutes

 

Today is hot, even before the stipulated 1.5 hours, it is more than double in size. I think the culprit is either I measure incorrectly the weight of dry yeast or over proofing. It look easy but it is quite tough actually.

Thanks in advance.

Friend A :

I suggest you cut the proofing time to 45-60 mins. I don’t do more than 1 hour here. Also, I’m surprised to see an egg in there.  I don’t use it. Stay with the same recipe if you like, otherwise, my suggestion, Reduce the flour to 450g, reduce the milk to 250-300ml and use 1 tsp. sugar, and lose the egg.

Guaishushu:

Thanks. I will try your recipe. My kids say it is a mushroom bread! ha-ha. Have a nice day!

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)


Friend B

Ken, English muffins should be about 2cm tall and about 8cm in diameter with flat top and bottom.  Also when making bread there is usually salt & sugar to help the chemical reaction with the yeast – about 1 tsp. of each.  I agree with Friend A and was surprised to see you had a recipe with an egg in it.  Traditional muffins would have used lard rather than butter.  Overall looking at your recipe it seems to have too much liquid ingredients (milk, egg, butter).

Guaishushu: Thanks! Lard?

Friend B

Lard is rendered or unrendered pig fat, although these days you can also get vegetable lard. If it is available in Singapore you would find it in the chiller cabinets near the butter.  It comes in block form and is white in colour.  It is very rich when used in cooking.  I use it in lots of traditional British baking recipes,  particularly pastries.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)


Friend C

Does look like something went wrong, what did you cook them on? What type of yeast did you use? See here: http://bakersanonymous.com/2013/08/the-great-british-bake-off-week-two/ for lots of tips and tricks.

Guaishushu

Friends C,  really thank you. I knew it should be flat like some sort of Japanese bread, smooth and soft. Attached please find the recipe.

Friend C

I cut mine straight after kneading and then only proved for an hour (about 20’c here) and they weren’t quite doubled. I didn’t bother with a second prove. They are not baked, but cooked in a frying pan or hot plate on the hob, where they continue to puff up. 7 minutes each side.
Will you try them again?
 

Guaishushu

That is what I think. It seems that the proofing totally destroy it!, I will try again after I finished eating  this batch. Ha-ha. May be the recipe I get is for those live in south pole! Joking Thanks for sharing.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)


THE SECOND ATTEMPT

Based on the above 3 discussions, I have decided to change the recipes. Major changes were:

  • Reduce the milk to 300 ml from 350 ml;
  • The replacement of melted butters with lard;
  • No egg was added;
  • Use of 5 g of yeast instead of 7g;
  • Proofing time at room temperature for about 60 minutes;
  • Cut before the 1st proofing and there is no second proofing;
  • Select some for pan fried and the remaining were baked.

With the above kind advises, this is what I get for the second batch.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)


WHAT IS REQUIRED

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

  • 5g dry yeast 
  • 1/2 teaspoon of sugar 
  • Pinches of salt
  • 500 g of plain flour 
  • 300 ml of lukewarm milk 
  • 30 g lard (Alternative: melted butter or olive oils)

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

Recipe 2

  • 5 grams of instant yeast 
  • 1 tablespoon  of sugar 
  • Pinches of salt 
  • 400 g of plain flour 
  • 100 grams of low protein or cake flour 
  • 320 ml of lukewarm milk 
  • 30 g lard (Alternative: melted butter or olive oils)
  • 1/4 cup of semolina or polenta or cornmeal

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)


STEPS OF PREPARATION

  • Pre-heat oven to a hot 200 degree Celsius.

 Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

  • In a big mixing bowl, put in plain flour, lukewarm milk, yeast, lard, salt and sugar. Knead until well combined and smooth.
  •  Use a roller spin to flatten the dough with about 1.5 cm thick. 

  • Use a 8 cm  diameter, 1.5 cm high circular cutter and cut the dough into rounds and place in a baking tray with a sheet of baking paper on it.
  • Use a plastic wrap to cover the dough and prove for 45 minutes to 60 minutes.

Method 1 – Baking the Dough

  • Once done, bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes , turn once halfway through cooking. 
  • Transfer to a wire rack for cooling. 

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

Method 2 – Pan Frying the Dough

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

  • In a frying pan, put 1 tablespoon of lard or butter or cooking oil. Pan fry the dough at medium heat for about 6 minutes a side. You will witness a rise in dough. Turn to the other side and fry for another 6 minutes or when the colour start to turn golden yellow. 
  • The muffin is best serve warm with your preferred choice of breakfast spreads

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

NOTES

You can also sliced the muffins and pan fried on each side if you found that the muffins are under cooked.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

Recipe 2

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

  • Put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and use the mixer to knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it leaves the size of the bowl. Note that this is a rather soft dough. Lightly grease the mixing bowl and let the dough in the bowl for first proofing until it double in size. Transfer the dough to a heavily floured surface. Pat away the air and let it lightly roll it until it is about 1.5 cm thickness.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

  • In a tray, dust the tray sparingly with cornmeal or polenta or semolina flour.
  • Use a 8 cm dough cutter to cut the dough. Place the cut dough in the tray with cornmeal or semolina flour ensuring both sides were coated with the cornmeal. Let it proof for another 15 minutes.
  • Get ready a flat frying pan, lightly greased with lard or butter. Pan fry each side of the dough under medium heat for 5-7 minutes until golden brown. 
  • For servings, use a fork to pierce into the middle and best served with jam, butter or savoury choices. 

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)


CONCLUSIONS

A relatively easy to make breakfast item. It can be as healthy as you want it to be. Of course, lard is optional and you can substitute it will the healthier olive oil. You can opt for the baked version instead of the pan fried version. Though simple, it is equally tasty and I will definitely want to make it again and eat it with scrambled eggs or fried eggs.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

One thing that I have to highlight is Recipe 2 is rather authentic and to cut open the muffins, fork is used instead of using a knife. Just pierce in the center and break it open .

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

English muffins can be soft either sweet or savoury. Though sweet is a more common alternative.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

I have analysed the possible reasons for the failure of the first attempt. One is the incorrect measurement of yeast volume. I always have difficult to measure yeast as they are very light and some weighing scales are not sensitive enough to detect the volumes.

Secondly, the proofing time is too long. While recipe book is a reference, however, I should have taken into consideration of the local weather conditions which is at least 33 degree Celsius that afternoon. However, never seen how a English muffin looked like make me unsure of how I should salvage the situation.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

Thirdly, I may not have added pinches of salt in the first attempt. Salt had the ability of inhibiting of yeast fermentation and without such minute quantity of salt, the dough can become a volcano as the yeast are happily having party in the dough without presence of any “salty” policemen! ha-ha.

I still refused to conclude that the recipe source is to blame  though the volumes and procedures have been altered rather significantly. I would chose to believe that it is more because of my own mistakes.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

But via discussions with my friends in Google plus communities, I have cut short the method and yield the English muffins acceptable to me.

I honestly, sincerely and faithful wanted to thank my 3 friends who offered me valuable advises voluntarily. Without their valuable advises, i do not think that I am able to share with readers about this baking adventure.

Hope you like the post today and have a nice day. Cheers.

 

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

You can follow me at PINTEREST or visit the blog’s FACEBOOK PAGE to keep abreast of my future posts. Also follow me at INSTAGRAM or TSU, a new social network for some more personal sharing other than recipes.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

You can also join the FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED FACEBOOK GROUP and FOOD PARADISE 美食天堂to see more recipes. I am posting my daily home cooked food in the above Facebook Group daily. I would be more than happy if you can  post in the Group for the recipes that you tried from my blog.

Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

If you are a Pinterest user and you are interested to have more recipes, you can join or follow this Pinterest Board set up by me  where there are more than 2600 recipes worldwide and pinned by various bloggers: FOOD BLOGGERS AND FOODIES UNITED PINTEREST BOARD.


Traditional English Muffins (英式松饼)

 

  1. Thanks for your comments on my party food in Facebook, Kenneth! Nice space here & very information post you’ve got. I love English Afternoon Teas & good muffins are a must. I’m really fussy when it comes to food, so I would rather not bake muffins myself. I’m afraid the outcome would be a disaster. Lol! I’m following you at Twitter & looking fwd to sharing! Happy weekend!

    • Thanks, Shirley. I am glad that you like the post. I like to trial and error and simple ratio.. You should try the lard version and I was so shocked that one of community friends told me that they uses lard. Though not that healthy but heavenly nice. Thanks for being my friends and I am still trying to locate your blog and I am sure there are lots of things we can discuss! Cheers and thanks for dropping by.

    • Hi Kenneth, I’ve left you a msg at facebook chat. See u there! Luxury Haven

  2. It is good when the trial and error makes you learn. I enjoy those experiences. But the muffin does look really nice. Never had it pan fried always baked. Will try it!

  3. These came out really well. I’m thinking of trying to make them this week. Pinned! Thanks for joining in #recipeoftheweek

  4. I loved the pan fry version. Look more yummy. Will try and thanks so much for sharing your trial and error experience. Xie Xie.

  5. Hi Kenneth, you indeed made it so easy! Thanks so much!!!

  6. Hi May I know can the dough been freeze for future use?

Comments are closed

Skip to toolbar