Online Recipe Book


Yorkshire Pudding

Source
Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course, Classic Edition, c2001, page 141
Yield
6 or 12 individual puddings
Prep info
5 min prep + 7 min preheat & prep + 15 min cook
Prep time
Not set
Cook time
27 minutes
Time required
27 minutes
Oven preheat
425F
Type
Side
Status
Favourite
Tags
English

Ingredients

  • For 6 puddings:
  • 75 g flour - bread
  • 1 egg
  • 75 mL milk
  • 55 mL water
  • salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 T fat (preferably beef dripping)
  • For 12 puddings:
  • 150 g flour - bread
  • 2 eggs
  • 150 mL milk
  • 110 mL water
  • salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 c fat (preferably beef dripping)

Method

First read the notes on Yorkshire pudding below!  Ready your pan by placing the fat in it - you don't need much.  6g per well of a muffin tin will do well.  Set aside.

To make the batter, mix together the egg, milk, and water; set aside. Mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a medium or large bowl, then add the liquid, and mix together with an electric handheld mixer.

About 5 minutes before the meat is due to come out of the oven, increase the heat to 425F / 220C / Gas 7.  Place your pan on a free shelf.  After 5 minutes remove the meat and leave on one side to rest, then pour the batter into the sizzling hot fat.  Return the tin to the baking sheet on the highest shelf (or second highest, if you have roast potatoes on that one).  Cook for 10-15 minutes, until risen, crisp, and golden.  

Serve as soon as possible, as it loses its crunchiness if it has to wait around too long.

Notes

Notes from source: Yorkshire pudding was originally served as a first course, to temper the appetite and make the meat go further.  But crisply-made Yorkshire pud is now - and with every reason - something of a delicacy.  There are just a few rules: for a successful pudding you must (i) have the oven very hot, (ii) use a flameproof metal container, and (iii) always use plain flour rather than self-raising.

The best container I've come across for Yorkshire pudding is a cast-iron enamelled gratin dish which fits this recipe perfectly, or if I want to feed eight people I make double the mixture and use two dishes.  Alternatively an 11"x7" solid roasting tin will do.

SJ Note 27 Apr 2011: These were FANTASTIC!  Best Yorkshire puddings I've ever had!  The original times were much longer - and mine would have burnt if I'd left them that long - so I've adjusted that here.  Every oven is different, so keep an eye on it.  I used beef fat straight from the freezer, and it was smoking within 5 -7 minutes of preheating in the oven.  You don't need much fat in each well of your muffin tin (if you use one).

SJ Note 19 Mar 2012: We've made these several times now, and I think I've got the yield right - make these too small, and they're quite pitiful; make them too big and they won't pop correctly.  Tonight they were beautiful, so I'm preserving the sizes - I made the 12, but I'm sure the 6 will work just fine for a smaller crowd.  I use a muffin tin; you'll have to tinker with it yourself if you use another pan.