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Yorkshire Pudding

Posted by Elise on Dec 24, 2008

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The texture of a Yorkshire pudding is nothing like a pudding in the modern sense of the word. Not a custard, it's more like a cross between a soufflé and a cheese puff (without the cheese). The batter is like a very thin pancake batter, which you pour into a hot casserole dish over drippings from roast beef or prime rib. It then puffs up like a chef's hat, only to collapse soon after you remove it from the oven.

Given that it's loaded with beef drippings (read fat) or butter, or both, Yorkshire pudding is probably not the thing you want to eat regularly if you are watching your waistline. But for a once a year indulgence, served alongside a beef roast? Yummmmm.

Yorkshire pudding is traditionally made in one pan (even more traditionally in the pan catching the drippings from the roast above). You can also make a popover version with the same batter and drippings in a muffin tin or popover pan.

Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

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Ingredients

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 eggs, beaten*
2-4 Tbsp of roast drippings

* If you double the recipe, add an extra egg to the batter.

Method

1 Sift together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Form a well in the center. Add the milk, melted butter, and eggs and beat until the batter is completely smooth (no lumps), the consistency of whipping cream. Let sit for an hour.

2 Heat oven to 450°F. Add roast drippings to a 9x12-inch pyrex or ceramic casserole dish, coating the bottom of the dish. Heat the dish in the oven for 10 minutes.

For a popover version you can use a popover pan or a muffin pan, putting at least a teaspoon of drippings in the bottom of each well, and place in oven for just a couple minutes.

3 Carefully pour the batter into the pan (or the wells of muffin/popover pans, filling just 1/3 full), once the pan is hot. Cook for 15 minutes at 450°F, then reduce the heat to 350°F and cook for 15 to 20 more minutes, until puffy and golden brown.

Cut into squares to serve. Serves 6.

Indexed: Pudding

34 Comments

Yum, sounds like the dinner version of Baby German Pancakes!

Posted by: The Chatty Housewife on December 24, 2008 3:54 PM

That looks really yummy, however, I don't eat red meat, is it possible to use chicken or duck drippings or am i just out of luck on the pudding?

Pretty much any fat would work, incl butter. ~Elise

Posted by: nia on December 24, 2008 5:06 PM

Next time try cooking it with big thick sausages like lincolnshire sausages and you have "Toad in the hole" :)

Posted by: Ian on December 24, 2008 5:53 PM

I have British grandparents and every Christmas we have prime rib with Yorkshire Pudding...
I look forward to Christmas dinner whenever I go home for the holidays. I have made Yorkshire Pudding to accompany your roast beef recipe on occasion. Definitely worth the extra effort!

Posted by: Stacey S on December 24, 2008 7:20 PM

To The Chatty Housewife:

I've made it successfully using just vegetable oil (not recommended unless you infuse the oil first; very poor flavor), it was something of a failed experiment flavorwise, but the texture was fine - as such, I should think that using drippings from any roast would make for a tasty and successful version, though I've always used FAR more drippings - it's not at /all/ healthy, but the more the tastier, and it goes even better with gravy - just make sure to only have it once a year or so indeed!

Posted by: The Wandering Jew on December 24, 2008 9:09 PM

You know, there are nutrients in the drippings that you won't find in a bottle of oil. Once a year indulging in something like this is not going to kill you or make you fat. I think all the neurosis about being fat is what makes us fat!

We should all sit down and enjoy a meal and the company there with you more often. If you can learn to enjoy life I guarantee you will be healthy.

Thanks for the recipe, however. The only time I had Yorkshire Pudding, it was made for us by a real Englishman! And amazingly good. But we're planning a meal with family and making our own prime rib so maybe we can do this!

Posted by: Stella Cadente on December 25, 2008 9:24 AM

Thanks! Just used this recipe to make my yearly dose of fat. (Normally I use a cookbook that I didn't have to hand this year.)

I used turkey drippings, btw.

Posted by: Huw on December 25, 2008 2:46 PM

Possibly the greatest side dish ever served! My grandmother made it like nobody's business!

Posted by: Mike on December 26, 2008 11:59 AM

We're a wheat-free and dairy-free (most of the time :) household. The past few years I've been using white spelt flour and almond milk with much success. My extended family, who have no diet restrictions, love it.

Posted by: Kathleen on December 26, 2008 7:15 PM

Aaah yes, I remember them well. My mother used to make individual sized ones. Much better. You can fill them up with gravy and let it soak in until you've finished everything else, then eat the yorkshire pud.

I'm really going to have to try making them one of these days.

Posted by: Bruce on December 26, 2008 10:10 PM

I have the same memories. My mother is actually from Yorkshire and made the individual ones. All my aunts make it the same way, too. The taste of the pudding once it soaked up the gravy or jus was just wonderful!

Posted by: Peachpod on December 27, 2008 9:38 AM

My mom has made an "old English" dinner for Christmas for as long as I can remember. WHile I haven't eaten the prime rib in over 10 yrs (I quit eating red meat), I still do enjoy the yummiest Yorkshire pudding! My mouth is watering just remembering the taste from 2 days ago.... I know my mom makes the pudding with leftovers as well and doesn't use the drippings since they were already used. I think she uses just regular oil. I agree..not as tasty...but still good.

Posted by: Lori on December 27, 2008 12:09 PM

I think I'll have to make a roast so I have drippings! I like the idea of doing individual servings.

Posted by: Sara on December 27, 2008 3:02 PM

Strange, eh? We had Christmas in Yorkshire and never ate any Yorkshire pudding. Not even gluten-free ones.

Posted by: Trig on December 28, 2008 3:03 AM

This sounds like a great way to use roast drippings! I always make my beef roasts in the crock-pot and have tons of "drippings" left over! Besides that, I always wondered what Yorkshire Pudding was. Turns out, it's nothing like I thought it was!

Posted by: Renee on December 28, 2008 6:54 AM

Elise,

How did you know I was looking for a good Yorkshire Pudding recipe? I ate this with what we call prime rib when I lived in England many years ago. I loved it. I know this sounds gross, considering our health concerns these days, but I also remember eating beef dripping sandwhiches when I lived in England.

Posted by: Espahan on December 28, 2008 12:43 PM

I found when making Yorkshire pudding that bacon grease or even lard can be used if there aren't a lot of drippings. Still puffs up!

Posted by: SUSAN on December 28, 2008 5:58 PM

Oh, I miss this. My Mom married an Englishman ten years ago and made the Christmas switch from turkey to roast. I balked that first year, but when they served me my first Yorkshire pudding I was hooked. Are you kidding? It's a meat-flavored muffin! It's perfection!

This year they served turkey and I nearly cried.

I am OWED a Yorkshire pudding and I intend on getting it! With this recipe, I'll make it my damn self!!

Posted by: missbhavens on December 30, 2008 8:36 AM

Our son-in-law is from London and he makes an English Christmas dinner every year. Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and root vegetables ... and, of course, a gravy for the puddings. Always very good.

I think the Yorkshire pudding does a little better making it in a muffin pan - heavy duty one. The pudding has more crisp edges.

Posted by: jcwade on December 30, 2008 9:15 AM

My father-in-law is British, and this is the EXACT recipe he uses to make his Yorkshire pudding. It's to die for. You can use butter, instead of drippings...it doesn't have quite the same "beefy" flavor, but it's still amazingly delicious. I could eat the entire pan by myself.

Posted by: sarah on December 30, 2008 5:56 PM

My mom made this a lot. She didn't bother with the drippings, just melted a stick of butter in the pan and popped the pudding batter into it. The taste is wonderful. So yes, it can be made to taste good even without drippings.

Posted by: Don Livingston on January 6, 2009 9:31 AM

A few people have commented about Christmas and the Yorkshires. Traditionally these are served with a roast beef dinner and not with chicken or pork (although I do them with ny roasts!)
The key is to get the oil (or lard/drippings etc) really hot before you add the batter - smoking hot. Heat on the stovetop if you want. Once in the oven DO NOT be tempted to peak in the first 15 mins if at all and I personally find an extra egg helps it rise higher.
Ours now grow to about 6" high, soft on the bottom and crispy up top. Awesome!

Posted by: Stuart the Brit on January 6, 2009 11:55 AM

I lived in Britain for two years, Yorkshire for one of those years and LOVE Yorkshire pudding. It is the best! Thanks for the recipe, I am very inspired to make a Sunday Roast this weekend :)

Posted by: Alison on January 9, 2009 10:44 AM

Not too sure about the dripping.. but I do know that my great grandparents used to have it as... a pudding.. with a raspberry vinegar. We still have a vintage bottle of the vinegar stored somewhere. They were from Whitby, Yorkshire. However most Brits do have Yorkshire Puds with their roast beef Sunday Lunches, if they do do the traditional Sunday Lunch at home..

Posted by: Nigel the Limey on January 10, 2009 10:50 AM

This looks good, but I use a recipe that I got from a British chef I worked with. 1 cup Flour, 2 Cups Milk, 3 Large Eggs and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix together about an hour before baking and let sit on counter. Bake them at 450 until risen and brown. I bake them in a cold muffin tin that I have sprayed with Pam. They always rise high and never stick to the pan. Never have to worry about the fat getting too hot and smoking you out of the kitchen. Makes twelve.

Posted by: Jackie on January 13, 2009 4:43 PM

I am from and live in Yorkshire!

My mum makes the best Yorkshire Puds. She comes from Nottinghamshire originally and they had an ingenious use for left over Yorkshires.

Wait till cold and then smother in a jam (jelly) of your choice or golden syrup.

I am sure it would work well with maple syrup too.

I still enjoy my leftover ones with Raspberry seedless or loads of golden syrup.

Oh and another bit of info, around where I live, most people give you the Yorkshire Pudding as a starter. I'm not a fan of that as I like it with my roast beef. They make super wraps too, with some cold beef and horseradish sauce for supper.

Posted by: Emma on January 19, 2009 7:22 AM

It's not the nourishing fat that's dangerous--it's the white flour. Fat by itself (without carbs) is self limiting and conducive to weight loss. :)

Looks lovely. Will try to make it with almond flour. Gorgeous photographs as always, Elise!

Posted by: Lauren B on January 31, 2009 9:59 PM

I am a yorkshire girl who had this pudding almost every day in some form or other when I was a child. If you make the liquid in the recipe Half milk & half water and cook at 400 degrees you will have a much tender and crisp Pudding

Posted by: Freda Mortimer on February 21, 2009 10:16 AM

My mum also uses the (cold!) leftover pud with strawberry or raspberry jam.
The pudding will turn out a whole lot better if kept in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking. Get your fat/dripping *really* hot, then pour the extra cold batter in. Super crispy tops.

Posted by: Paulie on February 28, 2009 5:41 AM

Good effort. I'm a resident Yorkshireman, and like all Yorkshiremen, consider myself to be a world leading expert on all things Yorkshire pudding. Yours have got the look, and would probably only be improved by actually being cooked in Yorkshire. These things fly if you make them in a bread tin, too.

In my family, we've got an old cup with a broken handle. It's a very Seventies brown colour. My mum used this cup to measure the ingredients to make her Yorkshire puddings, and as such, it is widely accepted as fact (because it is fact, naturally) throughout the family that this cup is bestowed with some sort of mystical, magical properties. It is the Yorkshire pudding cup, and is a prized possession, one of those things that any of us would rescue if the house were to burn down.

I can picture myself stood outside being asked by a fireman what single thing he should go back into the inferno to save. "The cup, the one off of the Seventies without a handle. We can't make Yorkshire puds without it", I'd say.

I don't think he'd understand, but I hope he'd find it.

What a great story. Just goes to show you that cooking is so much more than just the food. :-) ~Elise

Posted by: them apples on March 1, 2009 1:10 PM

This is one of my favorite dishes, my Mother use to make it once a month and we had five children and Mom and Dad so she always had make enough for an army or so she said. She said we could only have it once a month because she saved the dripping everyone Sunday from her Roast that we had. She always used cast iron pans and she would put them in the oven and get them very hot and pour the batter in and it would bubble. It is the BEST with roast beef and the gravy. I am 50, ate it all the time as a child and still have it a couple of times a year and I'm not over weight. So ENJOY. I still use Mom's cast iron pans too. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Posted by: Lori Wilson on March 4, 2009 1:14 PM

It is a giant popover... I cannot help drooling.

Posted by: misca on May 14, 2009 12:37 PM

If you make a thicker batter, it puffs up well leaving it crisp on the outside and gorgeously soft on the inside - takes the gravy well.

Add sausages to the pan as it warms in the oven before adding the batter to create "Toad in the Hole" - perhaps one of the finest comfort foods in the world: serve with mashed potato, root vegetables and gravy on a cold, winter's day.

Coming from Yorkshire, I don't see it as a sin to serve this with any roast meat; it goes well with pork, lamb and chicken although with a forerib of beef (chine) joint, cooked in beef dripping, it's truly supreme.

For a change, why not bake one and serve it with your favourite chilli (vegetable or con carne) recipe? It's also fantastic with rich beefy stews and casseroles and curries. You can bake the pudding in vegetable/olive oil if you like.

Posted by: Grez on July 13, 2009 2:37 PM

Hi I'm from England. I run an organisation which runs Children's areas at outdoor events. Our crews work hard in all weathers, so they like hearty comfort food. Our crew kitchen is all vegetarian, because working without refrigeration it's safer and we avoid problems of storing meat etc. We make a roast dinner every Sunday. We cook a veggie version of 'Toad In The Hole' using vegetarian sausages and and vegetable oil (rapeseed or maybe olive). It always goes down well...

Posted by: john jacques on August 31, 2009 6:22 AM

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Yorkshire Pudding

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Yorkshire Pudding Recipe