Day 3: English Muffins

So, I attempted this recipe for English Muffins twice and both times were a disaster! I follow the recipe to the letter, not taking any shortcuts but it still didn't work! After the second attempt I put it down to the recipe and not my baking skills!

The recipe seemed simple enough, the batter was made like a pancake batter (which we all know how to do as yesterday was pancake day!). Once the batter was made, it was left for an hour to form bubbles on the surface. The muffins were cooked on the hob. Metal pastry cutters were put into a pan and warmed. When the pan was very hot, butter was added and batter poured into the pastry cutters (the batter was very runny, so the pastry cutters made sure the batter kept its shape). The recipe said, and I quote "Cook for 5 -7 minuites until the surface is dry and full of holes and the muffins are shrinking away from the sides of the cutters". This is not how it went for me  . . .

Attempt 1: 7 minuites later there are no bubbles on the surface . . . and the batter is not shrinking away from the edges. But 15 minuites later the batter is shrinking away from the edges, the bottom of the muffin is burning and there is no bubbles forming on the surface! The main problem was that they were not cooked inside. It was a disaster!

Attempt 2: Next I tried a slightly lower pan heat so the muffins wouldn't burn, but the muffins didn't come away from the edges or form bubbles on the surface. Also they were still not cooked in the middle. 

After this I felt that the recipe was not correct and I would have to try another recipe! So look back here in the near future to see the results!