It’s Yorkshire Pudding Day. Are you like us and think that Sunday dinner is never the same without this amazing dish made from nothing more than eggs, flour, and milk?
The beauty of the Yorkshire Pud is that it is so versatile. You often now see it as a starter (traditionally this is how it was served in homes) in restaurants served with some onion gravy and because it is so light (well if you make it correctly, but more on that shortly!), it won’t fill you up.
It is also one the main ingredients (the other being sausages) in toad in the hole and they are great served as the British version of vol-au-vents, with fillings such as prawn cocktail, chicken mayonnaise and salmon.
Yorkshire puddings also make fantastic desserts. Blackberry and apple Yorkshire puddings are amazing, or you can keep it simple and fill them with ice cream topped with caramel sauce. Our own guilty pleasure is having them with some golden syrup. Go on, try it, you won’t be disappointed!
So how invented the Yorkshire pudding and how did it get its name?
No-one is absolutely certain but what is known is that in 1737, the first recipe for “dripping pudding” was published in The Whole Duty of a Woman. This was a guide for the fairer sex with rules, directions, and observations for a lady’s conduct and behaviour – yes books like that used to be written!
In 1747, Hannah Glasse shook up the recipe with her own version in The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Simple. Glasse re-invented and re-named the dripping pudding to The Yorkshire pudding and the rest, as they say, is history.
The key to making good Yorkshire puddings is to ensure the oil in the roasting tins is very hot and once the puddings are in the oven do not, I repeat DO NOT, open again until they are ready otherwise they will collapse.
Yorkshire Pudding Day – recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup beaten eggs
1 cup plain flour
½ cup milk
½ cup water
salt and pepper
1 -2 tablespoon cooking oil
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 240C,475F or gas mark 9.
2. Put the flour, salt & pepper into a large mixing bowl and make a gap in the centre for the eggs bit by bit. Add the water/milk mixture gradually and whisk in between each addition. Keep whisking until all the liquids have been added. Cover and leave to rest for up to 1 hour.
3. Pour a small amount of oil into your roasting tins and heat in the oven for 10-15 mins.
4. Carefully take out the tin/s. Pour the batter into the tin/s and return to the oven.
5. Cook for about 20 minutes until well risen and golden brown.
Serve with roast beef, roast potatoes, vegetables and lashings of gravy.
About Neil Shaefer
Marketing & Communications Executive of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.
