Place your milk into a glass jug and heat up to around 43 degrees C (this is just warm - I used my cooking thermometer to check)

Add your caster sugar and yeast to the warm milk and stir. Leave until the mixture starts to get a little frothy - about 10 minutes.

In a mixing bowl add your flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Then add in your milk mixture. Stir together until smooth. It should be quite thick, but not too thick! Do this for a couple of minutes, I used a handheld whisk.

Leave to prove, covered in a warm place for about 90 minutes (no less than an hour). My oven has a proving setting so I left it in there. Make sure you bowl is big enough so it doesn't over prove, there should be some air bubbles on the top once it's done.

If your mixture has thickened too much you could add a little warm water at this stage (a tbsp or two, but it should be ok).

Heat up a frying pan and add some oil to it. place either a couple of egg rings or biscuit cutters in the pan.

Once the pan is hot enough (medium heat), put two and a half tbsp in each ring and allow to cook for about 5 minutes. Little air bubbles should start to appear on the surface (hopefully!). If they don't then don't worry too much.

Using tongs, lift off the rings and then flip the crumpets onto the other side for a minute or two (the top of the crumpet should basically be dry so when you flip it there should be no mess).

Remove from the pan and repeat with the rest of the batter.

Serve hot from the pan or place in your toaster to reheat. Serve with butter, spread, golden syrup, jam, cheese... or whatever you fancy! Enjoy with a cuppa!