Homemade crumpets with ricotta, berries & thyme honey

I grew up on crumpets and still eat them for breakfast with lots of butter. I wanted to make them at home, and serve them with something a little lighter and fresher. I’ve given the method for classic crumpets but if you don’t have rings, you can just make one large, pan-sized crumpet and cut it into wedges. If you can’t find thyme honey, either infuse some thyme in honey or just use regular honey.

SERVES 4 PREP 20 mins COOK 20 mins plus proving EASY V

For the crumpets

260ml milk

1 tsp caster sugar

7g sachet fast-action dried yeast 220g plain flour tsp bicarbonate of soda Ω vegetable oil, for oiling and cooking To serve

80g ricotta

200g mixed summer berries

4 tbsp thyme honey

1 In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and 60ml water until warm but not hot. Take off the heat, add the sugar and yeast and stir in, then set aside for 15 mins.

2 Sift the flour, bicarb and a large pinch of salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the milk mixture. Stir to make a batter, then cover with a tea towel and leave for 40-50 mins until frothy.

3 When ready to cook, heat a flat, non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and oil four cooking rings, roughly 8cm diameter. Add a splash of cooking oil to each ring and tip in a ladleful of the batter (you want them between half and three-quarters full). Cook over a low heat for 15 mins or until bubbles form at the top and pop.

4 Gently lift off the ring, running a knife around the edge if it’s stuck. Flip the crumpets over to cook the top for a minute or so, then take out of the pan and leave to cool on a wire rack while you cook a second batch.

5 When ready to serve, toast the crumpets lightly. Spoon over the ricotta, scatter over the berries and finish with a drizzle of honey.

PER SERVING 340 kcals • fat 7g • saturates 3g • carbs 56g • sugars 13g • fibre 4g • protein 11g • salt 1.7g