DiningBuzz! - In praise of Yorkshire puddings

As a result of some friends staying, and considering that I was roasting beef anyway, they asked if I could make Yorkshire Puddings. Well I can, but until now, I haven't been that good.

So instead of using my regular recipe (Delia How to Cook) which I never found that satisfactory, I went for one off the internet....

And they were amazing. They rose so much we had to rescue them from the top shelf of the oven where they were bouncing off the roof, and were wonderfully light and fluffy. I was left wondering why I don't make them more often (apart from how terribly unhealthy they are - although I ended up using olive oil and semi-skimmed milk).

So there isn't really a point to this thread, except that I was so proud of how good my Yorkshire puddings are. And to put some context to this, I lived in Yorkshire for 12 years, and I know how good a good Yorkshire pudding can be :)

As a result of some friends staying, and considering that I was roasting beef anyway, they asked if I could make Yorkshire Puddings. Well I can, but until now, I haven't been that good.

So instead of using my regular recipe (Delia How to Cook) which I never found that satisfactory, I went for one off the internet....

And they were amazing. They rose so much we had to rescue them from the top shelf of the oven where they were bouncing off the roof, and were wonderfully light and fluffy. I was left wondering why I don't make them more often (apart from how terribly unhealthy they are - although I ended up using olive oil and semi-skimmed milk).

So there isn't really a point to this thread, except that I was so proud of how good my Yorkshire puddings are. And to put some context to this, I lived in Yorkshire for 12 years, and I know how good a good Yorkshire pudding can be :)

Woo hoo, you can't beat a good yorkie! I make them to go with pretty much every roast, not just beef, and they seem to go down very well with most people. I use Nigella's recipe for them, but the key I find is to make sure the oil is really really hot, preheated in the oven before you whisk it out to pour in the cold batter. I find the smoking point on olive oil is too low to get the oil as hot as I like, so I use a vegetable/sunflower blend.

I've never understood the bad rap that English food typically receives.

Yorkshire pudding is but one example of delicious, classic, English food.

I've never understood the bad rap that English food typically receives.

Yorkshire pudding is but one example of delicious, classic, English food.

Yup! I have to say, any of the 'traditional' British foods I make go down really well with the Canadians to whom I serve them up.

Sunday roasts, Cottage pie, scones with clotted cream, fruit crumbles, fish and chips, toad-in-the-hole, scotch eggs, cornish pasties, good strong cheeses, trifle, full English, sponge puddings (rolypoly, spotted dick) with custard - in fact, anything with thick custard! I can't even criticize our dinner ladies, as they got most of it right (fresh veggies were not their strong suit, but the puds were always brilliant!) Oh, and Bakewell tart, I make a mean bakewell tart!

Woo hoo, you can't beat a good yorkie! I make them to go with pretty much every roast, not just beef, and they seem to go down very well with most people. I use Nigella's recipe for them, but the key I find is to make sure the oil is really really hot, preheated in the oven before you whisk it out to pour in the cold batter. I find the smoking point on olive oil is too low to get the oil as hot as I like, so I use a vegetable/sunflower blend.
I did actually use olive oil, and it seemed to work well.

And I resolutely left the door closed for 15 minutes, just peeking at them through the glass!

I'm currently making a Scottish peasant dish called stovies with the left over roast - it's akin to corned beef hash. British food tends towards the heavier end and is more akin to peasant food - hale and hearty, but when done well, it is very good. I think the problem is that for a while we weren't doing it well - and some of it is hard to present well in a restaurant. I think we've got both more and less precious about food - we're not so ashamed of our native dishes, but we know we need to cook them to a high standard and use good ingredients.

Jenbel, how about a link?

I thought a condition of us islanders posting here was that we didn't admit we weren't American? Or did I just imagine that.

Yorkshire puddings are notoriously difficult to do, so well done, Jenbel!

My mother's a fan and she's had all kinds of problems with flat puddings based on the type of oven, available flour, etc.

Jenbel, how about a link?
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9020/best-yorkshire-puddings

I ended up adapting to 35 g of flour to one egg to 50 ml of milk to make 2 puddings per person (I had a 6 hole muffin baking tray) which meant something like 105 g of plain flour, 3 medium eggs and 150 ml of milk.

I cooked them in a very hot oven while the meat was resting so there wasn't any conflict between meat needing a cooler oven. The batter had been sitting for a while since I made it when I started doing the prep for everything else, but I hadn't chilled it.

Type of oven for yorkies is a factor, I find that they aren't too keen on any convection, so I use mine on a straight 'bake' setting, with heat from both above and below (electric). They also seem fine in regular gas ovens.

Flour over here I just use a regular white all purpose.

Olive oil, thinking about it, I think regular olive oil has a higher smoking point than EVOO - I only have EVIO so would have used that (when I have discovered I am out of other oil just as I am ready to cook!) cue smoke alarms going off all over the house!!!

Goose fat and an aga works best. Let the batter stand. Make pancakes for breakfast and yorkshires with same mix for supper.

Doing the traditional bake in a tray is much easier as well. Take meat out of roasting tin. Drain juices for gravy. Leave fat in. Tip in batter and put back into oven while meat stands.

My top tip for Yorkshire puddings, toad in the hole or any recipe using batter is this; pass your mixture through a sieve before you use it. This rids it of any lumps.

I use groundnut oil. Very high smoking point and tasteless.

For traditionalists, of course, Yorkshire pudding should be served before the main course and not with it.
Although as a conversation starter I sometimes break with convention and serve the roast beef dinner IN a giant Yorkshire pudding.
Serving Yorkshire pudding also allows me to repeat my favourite joke about the notoriously curmudgeonly inhabitants of that Northern county.
Yorkshire people are very much like the Scots but with all the goodwill squeezed out of them.:D

For traditionalists, of course, Yorkshire pudding should be served before the main course and not with it.


This is how my great-aunt does it, served with cucumbers and onions in vinegar.

This is how my great-aunt does it, served with cucumbers and onions in vinegar.

Sacrilege !
Yorkshires should be served with nowt but gravy.

Yorkshire pudding and popovers are the same things made in muffin tins and usually served with roasted beef and gravy. These are usually made at homes and never seen at restaurants in America.

Yorkshire pudding and popovers are the same things made in muffin tins and usually served with roasted beef and gravy. These are usually made at homes and never seen at restaurants in America.

They serve some very good popovers with strawberry butter at the Neiman Marcus restaurants. At least in Atlanta, once upon a time. I think it was Zodiac, though it's probably had a makeover and a name change.

The popovers were so delicious, I had to make them with prime rib for Christmas dinners. Sometimes in a square pan with drippings, sometimes in muffin tins which made them a bit lighter. Not at all hard to make.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/95177/neiman-marcus-popover-secret-recipe.html

I've never understood the bad rap that English food typically receives.

Yorkshire pudding is but one example of delicious, classic, English food.

I think it was English restaurants that got the bad rap rather than English home cooking.

Is there anyplace on Earth with truly bad home cooking?

I think it was English restaurants that got the bad rap rather than English home cooking.

Ever eaten at a Little Chef or Wimpy's outlet? ;)

More seriously, the food revival in England seems to have begun sometimes in the early or mid 90's. I remember to have noticed that something was going on when the publishers of "Loaded" launched a "laddish" food magazine sometime in 96 or 97.

They serve some very good popovers with strawberry butter at the Neiman Marcus restaurants. At least in Atlanta, once upon a time. I think it was Zodiac, though it's probably had a makeover and a name change.

The popovers were so delicious, I had to make them with prime rib for Christmas dinners. Sometimes in a square pan with drippings, sometimes in muffin tins which made them a bit lighter. Not at all hard to make.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/95177/neiman-marcus-popover-secret-recipe.html

I find popovers a different consistency to yorkshire puddings - perhaps because they have baking powder, rather than relying on hot air alone to make them rise?

I find popovers a different consistency to yorkshire puddings - perhaps because they have baking powder, rather than relying on hot air alone to make them rise?

The baking powder must make a difference, but the roast drippings/butter added to the batter make it a Yorkshire pudding to me. Popovers a nice treat, but the pudding is meant to fill you up, especially if served before the rest of the meal, which I've never done. I've always served it as a side dish. This is what I think of as a Yorkshire pudding--

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/yorkshire_pudding/

My late M-i-L found a recipe in a Canadian newspaper years back (lots of British immigrants then) and used it a lot. Very simple and works reliably.

My mom tried making yorkshire pudding a little while ago and for her first time it turned out well. In fact, it was better than the Gordon Ramsay version at the Savoy Grill (where we went for Sunday roast).

Hi

Just had a couple with our roast beef for sunday dinner.

Regards

TBS

Yorkshire lass born and bred here. I LOVE Yorkshire Pud. Had it in individual little tins, big tins, GIANT tins at the local pub.

My mum always said the way to a great Yorkshire pud is to use 3 eggs, put lard (animal fat) in the tin and don't put the batter in until the melted lard starts to smoke.......can't beat mums puds.

Have also had them as a pudding with treacle on them.

When I grew up we used to save one small Yorkshire pud for out little old Jack Russell. She used to take them out to the garden and bury them. She would go back a day later and dig her pud up and then eat it! :eek:

Love me a good yorkie pud... thanks for the link!

There's a pub near where I live in the UK that serves a "mini Sunday roast" = roast beef and veggies placed in a plate size (8" diameter maybe) Yorkshire pudding with gravy on the side.

Very yummy...looking forward to having it when I get home next month!

:)

I find popovers a different consistency to yorkshire puddings - perhaps because they have baking powder, rather than relying on hot air alone to make them rise?Baking powder in a popover?!

That's for those too lazy to beat the eggs properly and wait for the fat to preheat. I've a dozen or more popover recipes and not one calls for baking powder. Eggs, milk, flour + hot fat in varying ratios.

Aunt Bessie's frozen ones are the best.

Aunt Bessie's frozen ones are the best.

They don't taste of anything!

Very, very hot beef dripping in a solid, very hot pan is the key. Semi-skimmed milk works best as does giving the batter a little rest before using.

Aunt Bessie's frozen ones are the best.

They are absolutely the antithesis of what a yorkshire pud should be - light, tasty, fresh. They are just frozen heavy lumps!

They don't taste of anything!

Very, very hot beef dripping in a solid, very hot pan is the key. Semi-skimmed milk works best as does giving the batter a little rest before using.
Silicon muffin trays work surprisingly well too :eek:

(I was desperate!)

I have a friend who was recently talking about Marks & Spencer's roast beef, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding sandiwch...had not have one, but it sounds tasty.

:D

Anyone have a recipe that works at high altitude? The recipe I used at sea level, resulted in hockey pucks in Denver. Additional egg helps with the loft, but the results are understandably not quite right.

Anyone have a recipe that works at high altitude? The recipe I used at sea level, resulted in hockey pucks in Denver. Additional egg helps with the loft, but the results are understandably not quite right.

That's interesting, since high altitudes lead some things to rise/puff faster (things that result from chemistry as opposed to steam temperature).

Additional egg might not help as much as you think it does. You might want to try any of the following:

- reduce the fat a little
- beat the mixture more than what they say
- use harder flour

These things would allow the gluten to develop a little more, which can allow for the bubble structure to hold better.

Failing that, relocate to Yorkshire.

Anyone have a recipe that works at high altitude? The recipe I used at sea level, resulted in hockey pucks in Denver. Additional egg helps with the loft, but the results are understandably not quite right.

I'm not a high altitude cooker, but try making the batter and chilling it for a couple of hours before you bake them? Really hot fat, plus ice cold mixture (and something in the back of my brain tells me the standing itself also helps, but don't have the science to back me up!) should help prevent hockey puckness.