Sourdough Crumpet Co: made with love

25th September 2023 | Eativity Local Food Directory
Sourdough Crumpet Co

What began as a hobby to treat family and friends has grown into a successful Northern NSW business with a cult following. Sourdough Crumpet Co makes organic, 100 percent sourdough crumpets by hand, and they’re truly out of this world.

Former Sydney-based chef Tim Sherwin started making crumpets at home when he moved to Murwillumbah with his wife and young children. His wife returned to full-time work, and so Sherwin took on the role of stay-at-home dad. This gave him plenty of time to mess about in the kitchen. One of the skills he’d always liked to work on was his sourdough baking. He then hit upon the idea of making sourdough crumpets. They were so delicious, his family and friends urged him to start selling his crumpets at the Murwillumbah markets.

When COVID came calling and the markets temporarily closed, Sherwin began selling his crumpets wholesale to local cafes. As demand grew, the business also expanded, opening its own production kitchen in the foothills of Wollumbin (Mount Warning). Sourdough Crumpet Co now supplies freshly baked crumpets to local cafes, restaurants and delis in Byron Bay, the Tweed Shire and the Gold Coast. There’s also a retail line at some local IGAs, fruit and vegetable shops and gourmet pantry stores.

Sourdough Crumpet Co
Good things come to those who wait: organic, handmade and utterly irresistible.

Perfection takes time

So what makes these crumpets so special? Sourdough Crumpet Co’s crumpets go through a 24-hour fermentation time to develop to perfection. This gives them a lovely mild sour flavour and a tender structure, as well as a nice crisp “bum”. The fermentation time also provides added gut health benefits. The recipe uses a blend of white, wholemeal and spelt flour, there are no preservatives and Sherwin also rejects shortcuts like instant yeast.

“We believe that the more love we put into our products, the more it shows in the end,” Sherwin says. “There’s nothing fast or instant about what we make; the fermentation process is slow, as is the final baking stage. But we love the flavour and texture we achieve by sticking to this process.” Sourdough Crumpet Co’s many fans would agree.

Sourdough Crumpet Co curds and honeycomb macadamia butter
Sourdough Crumpet Co’s lemon curd and honeycomb macadamia butter (AKA “crumpet crack”).

Spreading happiness

To make the most of these delectably fluffy bundles of joy, you really need a topping of equal quality. Which is handy, because Sourdough Crumpet Co also produces the kind of delicious curds that your grandma used to make, including lemon myrtle and passionfruit. The curds are made the traditional way, with a velvety, sweet and tangy result. Perfect for spreading on a freshly toasted crumpet. Hell, or just eating straight from the jar.

For an extra touch of decadence, you can always opt for Sourdough Crumpet Co’s honeycomb macadamia butter. It’s laced with roasted, crushed local macadamia nuts – and is notoriously addictive. In fact, it’s affectionately known as “crumpet crack”. Nuff said.

It’s the attention to detail that makes Sourdough Crumpet Co so special. A focus on traditional processes and local ingredients is the perfect recipe for delicious success.

“We source ingredients as locally as possible,” Sherwin says. “We value the relationships we have with our suppliers because we like to know where our ingredients come from.

“We’re a small-scale production, but we love what we do. Me and my team have somewhat of an obsession with creating the perfect crumpet, every time we bake.”

For those of you lucky enough to be living in crumpet country, you can find Sourdough Crumpet Co stockists here. For wholesale enquiries, click here. Sourdough Crumpet Co is just one of the awesome Australian food producers you can find on the newly launched EATIVITY Local Food Directory. The EATIVITY Local Food Directory is on a mission to support the local food movement by connecting consumers with local, sustainable and artisan food producers, growers and farmers right across the country. Are you an Australian food producer who’d like to sign up or find out more information? Just head straight to the directory today or email us at contact@eativitynews.com.