HOMEMADE CRUMPETS & WHIPPED HONEY BUTTER

Combine the plain flour, salt and 400ml of warm (not hot!) water in a mixing bowl and whisk vigorously until smooth. Add the yeast slurry, caster sugar and baking powder and whisk for another minute or so, until fully combined. The batter will be the consistency of double cream – this is what we want. Cover the batter with a tea towel and set aside somewhere nice and warm for 30 minutes, until the surface is covered with bubbles.

Meanwhile, you can make the whipped honey butter. Pour the double cream into a mixing bowl, or into the bowl of a freestanding mixer, and beat on medium for 5-10 minutes, until the solids split from the whey. It will be quite obvious when this happens – you’ll suddenly find yourself with a ball of butter surrounded by lots of creamy-coloured liquid. Drain to discard the liquid, then rinse the solids thoroughly with cold water. Place the solid butter, honey, salt and cinnamon into a clean mixing bowl and beat for a further minute or so, until creamy and combined. Taste and add a little more honey or salt, if you think it needs it. Set aside for serving.

When your crumpet batter is ready, grease the insides of two 10cm metal rings with butter. Grease the bottom of a non-stick frying pan lightly with butter too, then place the rings in the pan. Set the pan over a medium-high heat and once the butter starts sizzling, spoon 4-5 tbsps of the batter into each ring (the batter should reach approximately 1cm up the side of the ring) and cook for 90 seconds, until bubbles are appearing on the surface. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for a further minute, until the bubbles begin to pop around the edges. Finally, reduce the heat to medium-low and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, or until all the bubbles have burst (you can help them along by piercing them with a toothpick) and the top has mostly set.

At this point, run a knife around the edge of the rings to loosen them from the crumpets and remove. Flip the crumpets and cook for a further minute or so, until lightly golden. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Serve the crumpets warm, slathered with the whipped honey butter. If making in advance, store the butter in the fridge and toast the crumpets when you are ready to serve. I think they taste better double toasted, actually!