Crumpets 101

Happy Valentines Day.

Okay, now no laughing from you all from across the pond...

As a special treat for Sarah this morning I thought I'd get up and make crumpets. Sarah has talked fondly of having crumpets when she was in school for a semester at Kingston University London.
Of course I've never even seen a real crumpet. Anyhow with some info from Andrew I was able to get on my way with a recipe. My first attempts (on the left) resulted in 'blind crumpets', ie no eyes, or holes. I had to thin my batter down and I tried a few freeform shapes without the cookie rings. Andrew informed me that these are known as pikelets. There are a couple pikelets there on the far right. After I got my batter straightened out I went back to the ring method and turned out quite a few acceptable crumpets.
Of course my sweet wife was surprised and tickled to see me trying something that was distinctly for her. (She would have ate one even if was terrible, just for my efforts). Anyhow we shared a couple with butter and jam before she headed out to work. The rest will be saved for later.
Another recipe for crumpets here.