Huon Me Crumpet Co is another best kept Tassie secret

From a Covid lockdown project to a regular market sellout, meet Tassie’s own crumpet king and queen as they explain how they grew their unique empire — and the secret to the perfect treat.

Ally and Cam Skeels from Huon Me Crumpet Co at Farm Gate Market. Picture: Linda Higginson

An artisanal, handmade crumpet is not a treat you can easily find across Australia, but Tasmania is lucky to have its very own crumpet man.

A Covid lockdown project turned retirement plan interrupter, the couple behind Huon Me Crumpet Co weren’t professional bakers prior to 2020.

Cam and Ally Skeels came to Tasmania around Christmas time 2019, looking for the sweet semi-retired life, only to find themselves facing Covid lockdown.

Mr Skeels said the first batch he made was on a whim, a few weeks after moving in.

“I’d never had a homemade crumpet in my life before and one rainy day I was flicking through Instagram and I saw someone had made crumpets,” he said.

Huon Me Crumpet Co's creations.

“I thought I had nothing else to do that day and I’ve got all the things I need to make them.

“I made four crumpets and thought these were amazing. I didn’t know crumpets could taste this good.”

The combined talent of Mr Skeels’ curious mind and Mrs Skeels’ sourdough science have given the couple a successful five years selling their golden crumpets.

“Covid came along and Ally started making a sourdough starter because everyone started a sourdough starter, and she actually had no intention of using it for anything,” Mr Skeels said.

“She did it more or less to see if she could make it work.”

Mr Skeels said he had read that sourdough starter could be used to make crumpets so again, he gave it a go.

The couple then started musing if anyone would buy sourdough crumpets.

“We thought we’d give it a crack,” Mr Skeels said.

It was August 2020, they had made 48 packets.

“We were absolutely exhausted, it was the most we’d ever made by a factor of 10,” Mr Skeels said

“We sold all in about an hour and a half and we thought we might be onto something.”

Mr Skeels said he has customers who buy packets for their friends, who had their crumpets on a visit two years ago and want more.

“Everybody loves crumpets,” he said.

While Mr Skeels said a crumpet can be eaten any way a person likes best, he has his own favourite.

“I’m a big fan of butter and honey, butter and jam,” he said.

“I love them, I had them with poached eggs with fresh truffles from the market.”

Huon Me Crumpets don’t just have traditional crumpets but also chocolate, coconut, multigrain, saffron and a seasonal spiced fruit crumpet.

“It’s like if a hot cross bun and a crumpet had a baby,” Mr Skeels said.

Why do crumpets have holes?

“Crumpets are cooked on a flat top in a ring,” Mr Skeels explained.

“They’re a batter more than a dough.”

The bubbles come from bicarb soda.

“The sourdough gives it the lift and the bicarb creates the holes,” he said.

“You’re creating little steam pockets at the base of your crumpet as you cook it and then it rises up to cause those chimneys.”

And a final tip from Tassie’s own crumpet man — keep your crumpets in the fridge.

“They have a high moisture content with all those nooks and crannies,” he said.

While the Huon Me Crumpet Co stall at Farmgate Market might be sold out every time, there are some limited stockists around the state, including the north.

For those in need of some handmade crumpets check out Salamanca Fresh at Huonville, Bellerive, Kingston, Lenah Valley and Salamanca Place, Hill Street Grocer at West Hobart, Sandy Bay and Longford, Eumarrah Hobart and Launceston, The Local Grocer Cambridge, Trevallyn Grocer, Organic Grocery Store Launceston and Franklin Post Office.

Originally published as Huon Me Crumpet Co is another best kept Tassie secret