Name: Kay Achenbach
Class Year: 2003
Country of Residence: United Kingdom

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

Yorkshire Puddings truly exemplify the British tendency to call all sorts of different things “puddings”—they’re really more like an airy muffin.  Originally a way to bulk up a Sunday dinner with cheap and tasty ingredients, they’re traditionally eaten with gravy drizzled over them as an accompaniment to roast meat, but to me they’re a highlight, not a filler! Leftovers (if there are any!) are also great as a breakfast food with some butter and jam.

When I moved to England from America, I quickly discovered that traditional British food is delicious and definitely doesn’t deserve its bad reputation. Yorkshire Puddings are without a doubt one of my favourites and the first time I tried a home-cooked one, I knew I had to learn to make them myself.  There’s a misconception that they’re a bit tricky to make because the conditions need to be just right for them to puff up during cooking, but in fact they’re very simple.  Just like the British people themselves, as long as you’re consistent and stick to the rules, they’ll always come through for you.

Yorkshire Puddings

Serves 6    Takes approx. 5 minutes preparation; 1 hour resting; 30 minutes cooking (1 hour 35 minutes total)

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups / 300 ml flour
• 1 ¼ cups / 300 ml milk
• 2 – 4 eggs
• A few tablespoons of goose fat* for the tin
• ½ teaspoon salt (optional – we skip this in our house)

Equipment:

Muffin tin (or Yorkshire Pudding tin, which is similar in shape but a bit deeper)

Notes:

The number of eggs depends how crispy versus doughy you like it (fewer eggs = crispier). In our house, we prefer 4 eggs!

You can use any fat for the tin; while goose fat is traditional, we use butter in our house because we always have that on hand, but it does brown in the intense heat. You could also use a vegetable oil.

Traditionally, white flour is used, but you can substitute all or part wholemeal flour if you prefer.

It doesn’t matter how many cups your muffin tin has in it. This is a very forgiving recipe; we’ve got a 12-hole muffin tin that makes smaller Yorkshire Puddings and a 6-hole tin that makes larger ones. You might need to adjust the cooking time slightly but they’ll come out well either way.

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour, eggs and milk in a bowl or jug until it has the consistency of cream and there are no lumps. If you can do it in something that’s easy to pour from, the next steps will be easier.
2. Let the batter rest at room temperature for an hour – this is an important step, because the secret to getting them to puff up is for them to come up to temperature in the oven quickly, and cold batter won’t do that.
3. Preheat the oven to 190^oC / 375^oF.
4. Prepare a muffin tin by putting a small amount (1-2 teaspoons) of your fat of choice in the base of each cup.
5. Place the prepared tin into the oven and allow it to come up to temperature. This is also a critical step—the fat must be extremely hot before you add the batter. I tend to put the tin in the oven as soon as I turn it on and let them preheat together.
6. When the oven and tin are both up to temperature, quickly remove the tin and pour the batter equally into each cup (about 2/3 full), placing it back in the oven as soon as you can. It should sizzle pleasingly!
7. Don’t open the oven door—if your curiosity is getting the better of you, peer through the oven window! Too much cold air will cause the Yorkshire Puddings to collapse.
8. Cook for about 30 minutes (depends on the efficiency of your oven); they are done when they’re puffy and golden brown on the top.
9. Remove from the oven and enjoy! They often start to collapse when removed from the oven, so if you pierce each one quickly with a sharp knife, this allows the steam and hot air to escape rather than contract/condense and the Yorkshire Puddings retain their puffy shape.

Source:

A combination of https://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/hairy-bikers-yorkshire-pudding, the “Custardy Popovers” recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook (as Yorkshire Puddings are essentially the same as traditional New England Popovers), and my own experience.