Firstly, I'll come clean. This thread might just be click-bait for a lovely lady named Eliza. :-)

I first tried to make Crumpets over 10 years ago. They worked ok, tasted yummy, very moreish, nothing like the packet crumpets, and they didn't have proper holes in them. I made them again a few years ago. Same result, pretty much. Very time consuming because of the rising times between the two steps in the process.

Last weekend, out of the blue, I thought I might make crumpets for breakfast but I hadn't allowed enough time for the two rises so no-go. Meanwhile, a couple of days ago my sister emailed me and asked me what recipe I use for crumpets because her Hubby was making some. Spooky, huh?! Not really. It saves on telecom charges when you can communicate directly.

I emailed back and said I had found a Paul Hollywood recipe after watching him make them on a TV show I saw. I told her I would try it out this weekend.

Well, I did this morning. Yummy, nothing like a bought one, same two rise periods in the process, no holes in the final product, etc.

Two things I would change next time: Paul H uses fast-acting yeast and I just had packet yeast granules. I should have done the trick of putting the yeast and sugar in some warm milk and letting it froth up, as in the first recipe I posted. Secondly, I allowed enough time for the rises but forgot that the crumpets need to cook a bit slowly so next time I'll have to allow extra time at the start.

We didn't split them and toast them, just ate them warm with marmalade and cheese. (Sorry, that's my thing and now Hubby is hooked on it as well. The marmalade we had this morning is a ruby grapefruit marmalade he made using fruit from our tree.) I made the rest of the batch up and I'll freeze them for a quick crumpety fix next time.

One question I have is, why does the first recipe include cream of tartar? I'm not sure what that actually does?

Have you made your own crumpets? Any tips and tricks you'd like to share?