Martha Collison's crumpets with salted maple butter

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, yeast, salt, sugar and bicarbonate of soda. Make sure you don’t place the salt directly on top of the yeast, as this might kill it.

2. Heat the milk gently in a small saucepan until warmed through (you don’t want it to boil). Slowly add the milk into the dry ingredients, whisking all the time until you have a consistency of thick double cream. Cover with clingfilm and leave for 45 minutes.

3. Heat a flat griddle pan or frying pan over a medium-low heat and place one or two crumpet rings (or however many will fit) into the pan. If you don’t have crumpet rings, you can always use round heatproof metal cookie cutters about 8cm in diameter, or the outside of a small springform cake tin. Brush the inside of the rings generously with butter allowing some to melt onto the surface of the pan, then spoon batter into the rings so it comes about halfway up. Don’t be tempted to overfill the moulds, or it will be impossible to cook the crumpet all the way through.

4. Bubbles will start to come to the surface and burst. When the surface looks fairly dry (this should take around 7-8 minutes, or a little longer for larger crumpets), remove the crumpet ring and flip the crumpet over. Cook on the other side for 1 more minute, then transfer to a wire rack. Repeat the process with the rest of the batter, until it’s all used up, greasing with more butter each time. These are best enjoyed warm, straight from the pan, but are great reheated in the toaster too. They will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container.