Crumpets

• 2 tsp sugar
• 400ml whole milk
• 200ml boiling water
• 2 tbsp dried yeast
• 300g strong white bread flour
• 200g plain flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Butter for greasing the crumpet rings

Combine the flours and add the dried yeast to one side of the bowl and the salt to the other. Mix.

Measure the whole milk into a jug and add the boiling water. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Cover and leave to form a mass of tiny bubbles. The will take between one and two hours.

Mix the bicarbonate of soda with 100 ml of warm tap water and stir it into the bubbly batter. It will deflate. Cover again and leave to recover 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt some butter and brush the inside of your crumpet rings. Heat a large cast iron frying pan, a smooth griddle or place a piece of bake-o-glide on the Simmering Plate of an Aga. Warm the crumpet rings.

Transfer the crumpet batter to a jug and pour into the rings until two-thirds full. Watch the bubbles appear. Once the top is almost set, remove the crumpet rings. Flip to cook the top of the crumpet – or place under a hot grill/broiler until golden.

Serve with lashings of butter. I like mine with grated Sussex Charmer cheese and batons of celery.

Eat.