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I thought that I'd try a typical British Sunday lunch. It was supposed to impress my English in laws. Simple right? Nope I can tell you it never went to plan. I got a great beef joint. That at least came out the oven right. My roast potatoes were passable I guess. The gravy was pretty good but not much can go wrong there. However, the Yorkshire pudding was more like a pancake. Chloe, our eldest just looked and said just do what you're good at in future Mom. Kate, my Mom in law brought over a trifle. Next time it'll be meatloaf. We'll dine American fare lol. Parting question for British members. How difficult is making Yorkshire pudding?
Cheryl XX
Comments
Yorkshire Pudding mystery
Not British, but will Canadian do? :)
My dad was posted to the UK with the RCAF for awhile in the late 50's. His Yorkshire Puddings were something to behold, if I do say so myself. I've printed off some English recipes from a recipe site that included two variations on the dish and they seem simple enough, but I'll always remember dad's advice when it came the success or failure of the puddings ... always make sure the pan is hot] (he always used Pyrex bowls for individual puddings) before you pour the batter in.
PB
From a Yorkshire Lass
The tricks of the trade often not appreciated are as follows
1. Use Self Raising Flour not Plain Flour
2. Add salt and crack 1 or 2 eggs and mix
3. Add a little milk and beat with a fork to let air into the mixture with the formation of some bubbles as an indication
4 Heat the oven to 200degC
5 Grease the Yorkshire pudding tins and add a half teaspoon of lard to the tin.
6. Place in the oven until the fat is hot and starts to smoke
7. Remove from the oven and pour in the mixture to cover the base of the tin
8 Put it quickly back inside the oven and let it cook for 10 minutes or until you can see the pudding(s) rise.
Don't put too much mixture in the tin but just cover the base. The edges should rise so you have puddings that hold gravy. Some people like them almost burnt and others likely cooked. It depends if you let them bake a bit longer in the oven.
Serve whilst hot.
I hope this helps.
Hugs
Alternatively,
I buy ready made ones from M&S, saves all the fuss.
Angharad
I'm no purist when it comes to Yorkshire pudding but...
My mother would cry if I didn't use plain flour. She's always told me that it was the eggs that make it rise. I don't have a recipe as such. I just use a 1.5 litre jug, fill it about 1/3 full of plain flour, add 2 to 4 eggs depending on the size of the eggs add half again the volume of milk and whisk it together with a hand blender. I then add enough milk, stirring all the time, until it's a little thicker than single cream. Preheat a metal tray, ideally a Yorkshire pudding tray with 8 big compartments or a muffin tray with 12, with lard or vegetable oil ( never butter, because it burns) as hot as you can (oven should be at least 200 degC) and fill each compartment half way with mix. Normally the sides rise to twice the height of the tray during cooking (or more). Don't open the oven before they are cooked or they will fall (glass doors help) usually 10 - 30 minutes depending on the size of the puddings until they are golden brown.
My kids go crazy for them :-)
Key to Raising Yorkshire Puddings
My British wife insists that it's the air that's whipped into the batter that makes them rise. She also says that it works best to refrigerate the batter at least 20 minutes before pouring into the hot pan. Last but not least, she says the batter should be thin.
I hope this helps.
- Terry
My Correction
Yes you are right. It is plain flour for Yorkshire puddings and self-raising flour for Scones
My mistake.
Hugs
I don't know it it'll help, but ...
My grandmother, a Yorkshire miner's wife, made the best Yorkshire puds I've ever had. She used a coal-fueled oven (the miners got some free coal) and the puds were always cooked underneath the meat, so any juices which overflowed added to the flavour of the puds.
I'm no cook. I honestly don't know if this made any difference. But I'll swear by the results.
all this talk
Of Yorkshire has me thinking I'll do a sausage toad for dinner tomorrow. Check out Gab's recipe book for the full details!
Have to admit I cheat a bit by using a bought batter mix but the crucial bits are air in the batter and a hot oven.
For me, meat loaf is in the same category as broccoli - devil food eaten only from necessity not choice!
Madeline Anafrid Bell
On my Menu for Thursday
Toad in the Hole with the bangers being from my local butcher, Alf Turner (as seen on Dragins Den). Very little fat in them. I'll get Lincolnshires if he has them (not all varieties are available every week).
Mash made with the last of the tatties from my garden. Add some home-made Horseradish sauce and it gets yummy.
Brocolli? Yuck. Almost as bad as Sprouts IMHO. Savoy Cabbage sauteed with bacon for me.
Followed by Lemon Cheescake that I made yesterday (if there is any left that is).
And yes, I have a pinnie with frilly edges. :) :)
No, it is not pink. It is Blue Gingham and I bought it at a craft market in Virginia a couple of years ago.
As has been said, Air in the better and Hot, Hot fat in the pan are the keys to great puds.
Samantha
I am tempted to try to make
I am tempted to try to make one of these if only to say that I made it once...but sadly my family refuses to eat any of my culinary concoctions because of several nasty failures. We still refuse to talk about the Italian Easter Pie attempt of 2012.
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
And now
You just HAVE to tell us now that YOU brought it up!!! :-)
- Leona
Yorkshire puddings manufacture
I have read the above comments and would like to add my own observations.
Individual ones can be done in a muffin tin. Or one big one in a simple small roasting tin.
I find the rising to be totally independent of how much air is in the mixture.
I find an oven temperature of 230 degrees C (450 F) to be right.
Preheat the oven until the fat in the tin is smoking hot (this is an absolute necessity) - sunflower, rapeseed, peanut oils all carry high heat well - however, I use goose fat. If serving with beef, then I sometimes use beef dripping.
I have a good friend from that far northern county who insists that it is impossible to have a good Yorky without any salt in the batter. I fully concur.
The batter is simply plain flour, eggs, and a mixture of milk and water (about 60/40) - plus salt and pepper. I use a hand mixture/whisk.
When ready, take the tin out of the oven and place over a heat source on the hob - this is to keep the oil/fat hot hot hot.
When pouring the batter into the pan it must - repeat (with emphasis) MUST - sizzle strongly. Pour rapidly so as to get the tin back into the oven asap.
Once in the oven, simply wait for about 25 minutes.
Job done.
Easy peasy.
For six, I use 175 grams plain flour, 2 large eggs, 175 ml milk, 110 ml water, s and p.
P.S.
I have a chilli-phile friend who also adds chilli powder!
Many Thanks to all.
Thanks guys I really appreciate all the input. I think I see where I made a few mistakes. I used an electric mixer I'm not sure if that's an issue or not. But I do have a hand whisk that may be better. I had made the batter a couple of hours before. I covered it and left it out in the warm kitchen. Perhaps that was a problem. I think the main problem was that the over. Was probably not hot enough. I will try it again before I resort to the meatloaf threat lol.
Cheryl XX