Carrying on from my conversation about Yorkshire pudding with Elaine Lemm on the podcast recently, I thought I should toss my hat into the ring with my own recipe.
This post complements the episode ‘Yorkshire Pudding with Elaine Lemm’ on The British Food History Podcast:
This is a simple affair, and after some rigorous recipe testing, using fewer eggs or different mixtures of milk and water, as well as different receptacles in which to cook the batter, I think it is both excellent and fool proof. It goes by the tried-and-tested equal ratio method: i.e. equal volumes of plain flour, milk and eggs, plus a good pinch of salt, and animal fat (in my case, lard).
The pudding takes around 40 minutes to cook, the perfect amount of time to rest your roast meat before carving and serving.
In the podcast episode Elaine and I came to the conclusion that anything made in a muffin tin, isn’t really a proper Yorkshire pudding. Indeed, the consensus on my Special Postbag Edition of the podcast, cooking the batter in a tray achieves the best proportion of crispy, crunchy bits on the fringes and nice puddingy softness in the base. Listen to that episode here:
Have something to add to the debate? Please get in contact or leave a comment at the end of this post, I’m sure I shall be revisiting the subject in future postbag episodes.
Cooking in a dish that is good and thick is important for a good rise: you need something that will heat up in the oven, but also retain it when the cool batter is poured in. Don’t go for anything flimsy here: a really thick metal tin, or even better, an earthenware dish: it’s thickness and its property of retaining heat creates a pud with a fantastic rise: I got such a good one it almost hit the grill elements in my oven when put on the middle shelf! I give the dimensions of my dish in the recipe, but don’t worry if yours is slightly different; puddings like this are very forgiving with respect to dish size.
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Make the batter a few hours (minimum one) before you want to cook it.
Serves 6 to 8 if eaten with a roast dinner:
¾ cup (180 ml) plain flour
A good three-finger pinch of sea salt
¾ cup (180 ml) eggs
¾ cup (180 ml) milk, full fat, if possible
30 g lard, dripping or goose or duck fat
Put the flour and salt in a bowl, make a well in the centre and pour your eggs inside the well. Use a whisk to combine the eggs and flour, starting in the well, gradually mixing the flour into the eggs. This prevents lumps forming.
Once the flour and eggs are mixed, add the milk, whisking slowly at first, until it is fully mixed in, then give it a good thrashing for 30 seconds or so. Leave, covered, at room temperature until you want to cook it. If you like, pour the whole lot into a jug, for easier handling later.
When you are ready to cook your pudding, preheat the oven to 200°C.
Place the fat in your tin or dish – I used an earthenware dish of dimension 20 x 28 cm, with steeply sloping sides – and place on the centre shelf of your oven. Give the dish and fat plenty of time to get fully hot: I leave it in there for a good 25 minutes.
Now give the batter a final good whisking, quickly (but carefully) open the oven door, pull the shelf of the oven out slightly so that you can pour in the batter. The batter should sizzle and frill up in the fat.
Quickly push the shelf back into place and close the door. Do not open the door until 25 minutes have elapsed.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, depending upon how dark you like your risen crispy edges.
Remove and slice into squares, serving it up with your roast dinner.
British Food: A History 
Yummy! I make this every Christmas to go with our roast beef dinner. This Christmas I’m going to try your recipe. My mother loved Yorkshire pudding, I make it in her honor, now that she’s gone.
And good luck to all of you over in Britain, I pray you don’t get too cold this winter. Not that we’re so much better, over here in the States.
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Glad you are YP fans over there! Let me know how you get on with my recipe.
Yes it’s going to be a bit miserable here this year, but I hope I can provide at least a little bit of escapism on here!
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I’m intrigued how you manage to crack the eggs into the well when you’ve already measured a 3/4 cup? 😉
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Haha. Good point! I’d practised so many times that I know 3/4 of a cup is approximately 3 medium eggs! I shall update my method!
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I made this as a Dutch Baby, adding some sugar, vanilla and nutmeg to the batter. Very happy with the rise and textures; delicious with some poached plums and pears and a dollop of crème fraîche. Thanks. 👍
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Good to know! I might give that a go myself
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My grandparents were from Liverpool, England. It was my grandfather who cooked Sunday dinner when my father was growing up, always roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. It is still our family favorite. His recipe: 1 cup flour, one cup milk, 2 extra large eggs, teaspoon of salt. Let milk and eggs warm to room temp. Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees. Put a tablespoon of oil (lard or even vegetable oil) into a 9 x9 pan and put in oven until pan is pre heated. Mix all ingredients together. Remove pan from oven and add ingredients to pan, it should sizzle as it hits the pan. Place in oven and do not open oven door until done. Bake for about 15 minutes, sides and middle should raise up over the pan. Bake until golden brown. Remove from oven and serve.
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Excellent! I’m so glad folk all over the world are enjoying proper Yorkshire puddings!
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As above but for a crispier product use two thirds whole egg, one third egg white and beat well before adding sifted flour and water. Allow to stand for 2-3 hours before baking. The taste of egg and flour should be equal in the raw batter. As long as the oil/beef fat/goose fat is hot enough to seal the wet batter as it hits the pan, your pudding will rise. Do NOT open the oven for at least thirty minutes!
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I’ve not heard the extra egg white method before. Does it make it too crispy?
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I’m going to give this a try at the weekend, but one question about oven temperature. Is the 200 deg C for a Fan oven or a Conventional (non-fan) oven? (Or doesn’t it matter!)
Dennis Jenner
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200oC for a fan of say. Don’t worry too much…Yorkshire puddings are very forgiving in that way. Just make sure the fat is good and hot!
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