Recipe from Make Five/Maak vyf
Makes 25 – 30 small crumpets

The chocolate sauce is for days when you want to serve this as a dessert. Without the sauce, the crumpets are perfect for a Saturday morning breakfast, perhaps with a rasher of bacon, fresh fruit and a drizzle of honey.

Chocolate sauce

15 ml (1 tbsp) cocoa powder

125 ml (½ cup) milk

60 ml (¼ cup) fresh cream

50 g milk or dark chocolate, chopped

10 ml (2 tsp) soft brown sugar

2 cardamom pods, crushed

Crumpets

2 eggs, beaten

300 g ricotta cheese

350 ml milk

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence

250 ml (1 cup) self-raising flour

250 ml (1 cup) oats

45 ml (3 tbsp) butter, melted

oil for frying

1. Sauce: Mix cocoa with some of the milk to make a paste. Mix with the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan. Heat until the chocolate melts and the sugar dissolves. Simmer for a few minutes and set aside.

2. Crumpets: Beat eggs, ricotta, milk and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the flour and oats until well mixed. Stir in the melted butter.

3. Heat a thin layer of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Pour spoonfuls of batter into the pan and fry until bubbles form on top. Carefully turn over and fry until golden brown and cooked.

4. Spoon out, drain on paper towel and keep warm. Repeat with the rest of the mixture and serve with the chocolate sauce.

1. Omit the chocolate sauce and serve with cinnamon sugar

2. Use the chocolate sauce on ice cream.

3. Stir a handful of blueberries, four or five chopped strawberries or one grated apple or pear into the batter and fry as above.

4. Serve with bacon and syrup, or nuts and yoghurt or honey, for a special breakfast.