Overnight crumpets

Warm the milk with 150ml water until lukewarm, then whisk in the honey and yeast. Put the flour into a large, deep bowl, make a well, then pour in the liquid. Whisk into a batter, leave in a warm place for 30 minutes, then cover and chill overnight.

Take the batter out of the fridge – it should be risen and bubbly. Mix the bicarbonate of soda, salt and 6 tbsp cold water together in a small bowl. Whisk into the batter then leave for 30-45 minutes in a warm place until the batter has started to rise again and has lots of small bubbles.

When ready, set a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add 1 tsp oil and rub it over the pan with kitchen paper. Grease the crumpet rings too. Put the rings on the pan and ladle in a little batter until they are about 1 /3 full. Cook for 7-9 minutes until the bubbles have risen, popped and stay open. (The tops should look almost dry and the bottoms will be a deep golden brown. You can’t rush a good crumpet and the exact cooking time will depend on your pan.)

Lift the rings away from the crumpets using 2 forks or similar, then flip them over and cook on the other side for 1 minute, until lightly golden. Use another 1 tsp oil for the next batch, and so on. Eat straight away or, for the best texture, cool on a rack then lightly toast before serving with butter and honey (or your favourite topping).