Print this article Print this article

Smart Wife’s Perfect Yorkshire pudding recipe

Posted September 25, 2007 * Comments(60)

individual Yorshire OUDDINGSYears ago Smart Wife taught me how to make perfect Yorkshire puddings. I often ruined the joint but our individual Yorkshire puds were perfect every time. Rising like a miniature Tower Of Pisa army, they happily deflected attention away from the teeth challenging meat.

On Sunday, Danny suddenly gets serious at around six o’clock and puts on his King Of Roasts mantle. If he is cooking beef I am invited to be his Queen Of Yorkshire Puds.

There are three key tips:

1. Make individual puds – I use an individual cake/bun/mince pie tray- they rise far higher and tend to keep their shape better than one big baking tray.

2. Make sure that the oil in the pans is smoking before you add the batter.

3. Only use plain white flour.

This Sunday I used a bread making flour – white with the goodness of added grains. Big mistake!

Rather than the usual five inch high puds we got the three inch hovels that you can see in the photo. They flattened as I waved a camera at them. They tasted fine but didn’t have so much hanger appeal.

N.B. December 2 2007: I have experimented with this recipe and had great results using a heavier dish.

Smart Wife’s Perfect Yorkshire pudding recipe (for 4 or D and me – they’re great cold with a slice of ham for breakfast)

Ingredients:

  • 110g of plain white flour
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 300ml of chilled milk (we use semi skimmed and I think that Smart Wife probably used full cream)
  • 2-3 tablespoonfuls of olive oil/ beef dripping/rape seed oil
  • Large pinch of salt

Method:

  1. Sift the plain flour into a bowl. Add the salt.
  2. Make a well in the centre and break in the two eggs. Gently whisk the eggs into the flour and gradually add the milk. I now use my stick blender to do this and it gives a much better result. Ideally, return the mixture to the fridge in a jug for half an hour to chill. If you don’t have time for that the puds will be fine, just won’t rise quite as much.
  3. Put a little oil (about 0.5 tsp) in eight wells in the cake tin and put on the top shelf of a preheated oven 220c (200c fan) for ten minutes.
  4. Quickly whisk your batter and pour onto the hot, smoking oil in the wells in the cake tin. The oil should bubble up around the batter. Speed counts.
  5. Bake at the top of the oven for 20 minutes, turning the tray around after ten minutes.

Time the puds to be ready when the joint is just about to be carved so you will serve them at their crispest and best.

Blog Widget by LinkWithin

Custom jewelleryCaroline says "I love to use vintage components in my work because of their beauty, charm and individuality. Pieces are available in limited quantities and once gone often gone forever! Because of their vintage nature and rarity I am only able to stock a set number of each size, type and colour of jewel." For custom jewellery Click here

One of a series of intereting videos

60 Comments so far

  1. kateNo Gravatar on September 26th, 2007

    Thank you for this recipe and for the tips … I have been a dismal failure with Yorkshire Pudding. This doesn’t seem so hard. When I try it, I will let you know. I am still envying you those Blackberries!

  2. PatNo Gravatar on September 26th, 2007

    Thanks for the recipe Fiona. I have used my step moms recipe and have mixed results. Planing on a roast here on Saturday and was going to buy some frozen puds…. but may now try these!!! Thanks!!

  3. farmingfriendsNo Gravatar on September 26th, 2007

    Thanks for this Fiona – I will remember to have the oil piping hot before adding the batter.
    Sara from farmingfriends

  4. AmandaNo Gravatar on September 26th, 2007

    They look very good! I expect they were excellent with the beef.

    Being from the North East originally the whole family is expert at yorkie puds except me. I was always too afraid to make them until I bought a Pampered Chef stoneware muffin pan and make the batter using 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of eggs, 1 cup of milk. Minimal oil is used and you don’t pre-heat the pan – it takes longer to cook than normal but so far it hasn’t failed and I love it that I use less fat.

  5. MichelleNo Gravatar on September 26th, 2007

    Never made these before but you have intrigued me. I’m going to try them this year, diet or no diet!

  6. PatNo Gravatar on September 26th, 2007

    Thanks Fiona!!!!!!!!! They were really super!!!!!! The best I have ever baked!!!! Hubby was well impressed too!!! We had ours with some local organic sausages and onion gravy!!! Just brill!!!!!

  7. fnNo Gravatar on September 27th, 2007

    Hi Kate,

    Smart Wife’s recipe is so easy for Yorkshire puds. Give it a go.

    We are lucky that we have wild areas of the garden to nurture blackberries. I tried growing a thornless one once with minimal success. They tasted so bland that they were ripped up after 3 years.

  8. fnNo Gravatar on September 27th, 2007

    Hi Pat,

    Most of my pals don’t use the same ingredients. There is a version without eggs knocking around the UK. Need I say more.

    Hi Sara,

    Hot fat is a must. These are so easy, you just have to give them a go. The photo shows my disasters!

    Hi Amanda,

    My friend Anna has your pampered chef stoneware quiche dish. It is brilliant. Are they now available in the UK?

    Hi Micelle,

    Armed with a decent recipe these are great. In the olden days in the UK they were served before the meat, with gravy, to eek outthe meat which was served as a separate course.

    Hi Pat,

    I am so pleased that they worked out for you. Armed with Smart Wife’s recipe, I thought that most Yorkshire puds worked well until various friends started to cosy up and ask for the recipe. Delighted that the recipe worked for you!

  9. AmandaNo Gravatar on September 27th, 2007

    I’ll e-mail you. Just started to type response and it was way too long!

  10. MartynNo Gravatar on October 5th, 2007

    My ex-wife is from Yorkshire so although I enjoy cooking, I’ve always been psyched-out about making Yorkshire puds (her mum made the best I’ve ever eaten), but your recipe emboldened me and blow me down, my first attempt wasn’t too bad. I shall persevere, and thank you.

  11. fnNo Gravatar on October 5th, 2007

    Hi Martyn,

    I am so pleased that this recipe worked for you! Sometimes we reheat the left over puds the next day and they plump up a bit – great as a lunch snack with a slice of ham or roast beef inside.

  12. hensteethNo Gravatar on October 7th, 2007

    I just discovered your blog, and I am so enjoying it. Thank you.

    I am fascinated by your recipe. It mirrors the recipe and methods for making old-fashioned US Southern-style corn bread cakes in an iron mold. The batter needs to be cold, and poured quickly into the oiled and smoking hot iron mold. The result is nicely rounded cornmeal cakes with a lovely crumb inside and a toasty outside.

    I’ve seen these iron molds of half-size ears of corn hung on a wall for decoration, but I’ve never known anyone to cook with them for over 10 years. These kinds of baking techniques might have been put out of business by the smoke alarm…

  13. fnNo Gravatar on October 7th, 2007

    Hi Hensteeth,

    It’s great that you are enjoying the blog.

    How interesting that the recipe mirrors the corn cake recipe. These Yorkshire Puddings are crisp on the outside and soft and airy on the inside. We moved our smoke alarm out of the kitchen as it was endlessly going off when we made the puds.

  14. IreneNo Gravatar on November 9th, 2007

    Hi

    I was greatly encouraged and tried the Yorkshire puds, though I had hitherto felt intimidated as I was told they’re notoriously temperamental.

    However, the puds fell flat. Can you tell me what may have gone wrong? [I used the electric mixer on setting 1(low)].

    Cheers
    Irene

  15. fnNo Gravatar on November 9th, 2007

    Hi Irene,

    I don’t know what went wrong with your puds. I don’t use an electric whisk.

    The key to these puds is heat. Hot oven, hot oil and cold batter. The batter should fizzle in the tins when you pour it in. Leave them, without opening the door to, for 20 minutes.

    The meat should be out of the oven and resting by the time you pop them in.

  16. lucyNo Gravatar on March 17th, 2008

    hiya we have been trying to find out how to make york puds and every web site we go on tells us to use between 4and 1 eggs can u tell us how many we have to use plz

  17. fnNo Gravatar on March 17th, 2008

    Hi Lucy

    Use 2 medium eggs or 2 large ones.

  18. suzanneNo Gravatar on March 20th, 2008

    can you tell me how to reheat yorkshire puddings

  19. fnNo Gravatar on March 21st, 2008

    Hi Suzanne

    Put them in a preheated oven 180c (160c fan) for approx 5 minutes.

  20. Kate DowlingNo Gravatar on May 19th, 2008

    Thanks for the recipe I will be given them a try on Sunday and will let you know how it goes! They sound delicious

  21. fnNo Gravatar on May 20th, 2008

    Hi Kate

    Do hope that they work well for you!

  22. moyraNo Gravatar on July 7th, 2008

    wow dead simple, came out a treat, hubby was well impressed , thanks

  23. fnNo Gravatar on July 8th, 2008

    Hello Moyra

    Great news.

    Thanks for the feedback!

  24. MageeNo Gravatar on July 8th, 2008

    I have been cooking yorkshire pudding around the meat for over 35 years. There is nothing like it IMOA. The individual ones in the tin are nice, but there is no comparison to the “real thing”.

  25. fnNo Gravatar on July 8th, 2008

    Hi Magee

    IMOA – I’d love to hear what that’s all about!

    How do you cook the Yorkshire pud around the meat. I’m intrigued. Would you consider sharing your recipe and method?

  26. SwannieNo Gravatar on July 9th, 2008

    WOW! how fantastic were these yorkies, best Ive ever made and after cooking yorkshire puddings for over forty years mine were just OK compared to these. If you follow the directions to the letter you cannot fail.

  27. fnNo Gravatar on July 10th, 2008

    Hello Swannie

    So pleased that these worked out for you! Thanks for leaving a comment.

  28. SashaNo Gravatar on November 16th, 2008

    Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I used to make the BEST Yorkshires ever but I lost my recipe. I was heart broken, but found a recipe I thought was the same on the BBC website. But I must have tried it 4 or 5 times (once on Christmas Day!) and they were all like hockey pucks – horrible! I did this recipe today and they were perfect! So I’ve torn the BBC recipe out of my folder and replaced it with this one!

  29. fnNo Gravatar on November 17th, 2008

    Hi Sasha

    I’m delighted that this recipe worked for you!

    Thanks so much for leaving a comment.

    There’s another step up though. If you use thick, iron based containers your Yorkshire puddings will retain their shape and be even crisper. I take these to work with sliced rare beef fillings and a little mustard and even on the cloudiest day the sun always shines at lunch time!

  30. DavidNo Gravatar on November 21st, 2008

    I’ll give it a go.

    The last time I tried to make Yorkshire Puddings they turned out as flat disks with raised edges. My wife took one to work; a colleague varnished it with nail varnish and used it as a coaster for her mug of tea for about 6 months. Humiliating!

  31. Alex RNo Gravatar on December 28th, 2008

    So many thanks for this guide. I used it on Christmas day for my yorkshire pud’s and they rose!

    Here is a photo of the dinner: http://flickr.com/photos/alexrichards/3136266614/

  32. JulieNo Gravatar on January 4th, 2009

    Hi, I just had to say thanks for this recipe. I googled ‘perfect yorkshires’ and found your site. My yorkshires often don’t rise much but these were amazing. I actually jumped up and down when I opened the oven!
    They were made with eggs from our own hens too, which made them even better.
    best wishes,
    Julie

  33. Jane WNo Gravatar on January 4th, 2009

    I have tried every single yorkshire pudding recipe going and always turned out frisbees!!! I tried this recipe and WOW they were bloody amazing!.I am chuffed to mintballs and will always be making my yorkshires this way in future so THANK YOU

  34. JoNo Gravatar on February 1st, 2009

    I’m trying these now (although have had to substitute the milk for 1/2 and 1/2 soya milk and water)…fingers crossed!

  35. JoNo Gravatar on February 1st, 2009

    They were delicious, enjoyed by both me and the husband…and the 16 month old boy! And they were HUGE! I think they’ll be my pic for today on my Project 365 blog :o )

  36. JaneNo Gravatar on February 2nd, 2009

    Having tried numerous recipes over the years and turning out Yorkshires that look more like frisbees than anything remotely edible I decided to try your recipe and WOW!!! they were flipping fantastic! My family were convinced that I had bought frozen ones until I made them again the very next day ( at the request of my son)..so THANK YOU! I am now a bloody marvellous yorkshire pudding maker….( and about time too considering I come from York hahaha)

  37. ianNo Gravatar on February 23rd, 2009

    How can anything so simple have such great results! Tried it for the first time yesterday fantastic puds the result.

  38. fnNo Gravatar on February 24th, 2009

    Hello Ian

    These are great but have you tried these? All you need is a cast iron skillet http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=523

    Thanks so much for droping by and leving a comment!

  39. EllieNo Gravatar on March 9th, 2009

    I really dislike ingredients like 110 g of flour.
    Why wouldn’t you say 1/2 a cup? (Actually it’s 0.478 cups) Everyone has a cup measure but I don’t know anyone in my circle of friends that has a gram scale.

  40. VeronicaNo Gravatar on March 9th, 2009

    Hi Ellie

    Funnily enough, European cooks are exactly the opposite! Any serious cook has a set of kitchen scales. They are not expensive and are invaluable for baking. The reason we wouldn’t say half a cup is because few of us have cup measures — we just don’t use them.

    Actually, I hate recipes that use cups :) Expecially when I’m instructed to add “a cup of butter”. I now have a set of cup measures, but I find them really awkward, probably because I’m not used to them, and always start by converting everything to weights in grams. I use this site for conversions:
    http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measures.cfm

    PS 110 g is 4 oz. Unlike cups, I can do common metric to omperial conversions in my head easily!

  41. steffiNo Gravatar on April 19th, 2009

    Wow Thank You so so much for this fabulous recipe, i have never made yorkshire puds my hubby usually does them if he is out i generally resort to frozen ones as i used to dread the thought of trying to make my own. Never again these were fantastic, my families eyes stood on stalks as i fetched them out of the oven LOL they were huge! so light, fluffy but crunchy on the outside and so easy to make i can’t believe i put off making yorkshire puddings for the last 16 years! So huge huge THANK YOU for this great recipe i will use this always, never agin will we eat frozen ones from the supermarket! Great site too i will be checking back for tips on chickens as we are just in the process of buying a new house with land in Devon and top of my list of jobs to get done is have my own chickens, veg patch, orchard etc so i will be a regular visitor to your site as it is great. Thank you best wishes Steffi

  42. GAIL ATKINSONNo Gravatar on May 1st, 2009

    HI IV BEEN TRYING TO MAKE YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS FOR YEARS. ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO I LIVED ON A FARM AND HAD AN OLD AGAR AND MY YORKSHIRE PUDDING WERE LOVELY AND ALWAYS ROSE, BUT THE AGAR WAS TAKEN OUT A FEW YEARS AFTER WE MOVED IN AND IV NEVER BEEN ABLE TO MAKE THEM SINCE.I RUN A GOLF CLUB AND HAVE TO BUY YORKIES IN (BOO) AND I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THEM AGAIN, SO IM GOING TO TRY YOUR RECIPE I WILL WRITE TO LET YOU NO HOW I GET ON. WISH ME LUCK…

  43. didsNo Gravatar on May 6th, 2009

    Hi,having made hellish yorky puds for ages ,my stumbling block is when i take them out of the oven they immediatley fall flat as a pancake.they are the right colour,size allbeit flat.can you help?

  44. KarinNo Gravatar on July 5th, 2009

    Thank you for this recepie.
    My boyfriend is from england and moved to the Netherlands to live with me. I like to make him roast dinner on sunday to give him a little of england here in the Netherlands. I never managed to get the puddings right though, that is until I found your recepie. Now they are perfect :D

  45. fnNo Gravatar on July 7th, 2009

    Hi Dids

    Try using a heavier pan. I discovered that they keep their shape better.

    Hello Karin

    That’s really good to hear. Thanks for dropping by.

  46. Linda SandersNo Gravatar on August 17th, 2009

    Hi, great recipe, I make mine really light by halving the milk and replacing it with cold water, and also a little pinch of SR flour just before they are to be poured into the pan works a treat

  47. MattNo Gravatar on September 2nd, 2009

    I’ve been making yorkshire puddings for years and always been succesful, but when a friend asked for the recipe i realised i actually dont follow one, its guess work every time and somehow never fails. i think its basically a routine of rules. the fat must be hotter than the sun (I sometimes put on a hot hob whilst pouring the mix in). never open the oven whilst their in, and most importantly, NEVER wash your yorkshire pudding tray, the build up stops them from sticking and as your oven is so hot it kills any bacteria and germs when your preheating.
    Also, being from yorkshire we enjoy ours in anyway possible, starter, maincourse or dessert, a personal favourite is yorkshire puddings with treacle, after all, it is a yorkshire pudding.

  48. LesleyNo Gravatar on October 20th, 2009

    I know how to make these lovely puddings but the humour was well worth the read!
    Thanks!

  49. fnNo Gravatar on October 21st, 2009

    Hi Linda

    Thanks so much for the extra tips!

    Hello Matt

    Great idea not washing out the YP pan – that really appeals to me. I like them cold with a little pickle and rare beef.

    Hi Lesley

    Thanks :)

  50. leeNo Gravatar on October 25th, 2009

    i have always made my own yorkshire puddings and they rose well, but i tried your recipe for a change, and my god was i impressed, i took photo and sent it to my gran who made the best in the world ,but i think i just over took her,
    thank you ,great recipe.

  51. ali foxcroftNo Gravatar on November 22nd, 2009

    My son described these as ‘like eating a cloud’ – and I am so happy (not being the most successful cook!!!)to have made something that EVERYONE said were fantastic!!
    Thankyou!!

  52. StevenNo Gravatar on December 28th, 2009

    Hi,

    Sorry, but the recipe doesn’t seem to indicate how much batter to put into each of the muffin tins. I guess it would be “divide the mix equally into 8 parts”, but a measurement would surely be helpful. The recipe I have been using from the Doubleday Cookbook for many years states 3 Tbs per tin.

    By the way, I have been attempting to make YP for almost 30 years. I have tried various things to make them rise better, but this year’s were the biggest disaster. Someone advised me that they didn’t rise because I beat the eggs too much, so I hand wisked them and got hockey pucks! I am anxious to try your recipe (rather, Smart Wife’s recipe).

    Thanks in advance for the help!

    Steve in Los Angeles

  53. fnNo Gravatar on December 28th, 2009

    Hi Steven

    The secret of good YPs is speed and heat. If you take time to spoon 3 tblsp of batter to each compartment on the tray you will have lost the heat required for them to rise. Make your batter and let it rest in the fridge in a jug for at least half an hour. Then when the heat of the oil in your pans is ssmoking hot pour the mixture into each well as fast as possible and return to the oven. I fill each one to the rim. Depending on which pan I use I gert 6-8 puds.

  54. StevenNo Gravatar on December 28th, 2009

    Thanks so much for the speedy reply! I am going to try again right away! My wife’s birthday is New Year’s Eve, so that would be a good opportunity to check out the recipe. Thanks again.

  55. Tim CoxNo Gravatar on January 2nd, 2010

    Hi,
    Had the best Yorkshire pud ever in my childhood,at a family friend’s at Christmas.Have been trying to make it for years with limited success.We were just laughing because your “failed” photo is better than we’ve achieved! We’re using”all purpose unbleached,never bromated organic flour”(wheat and barley)…is this wrong? Also,you fill the batter to the top of the tin?we are home for the long weekend ,having a bit of a Yorkshire pud cookathon to see if we can finally do it,lol,any advice…they never seem to rise correctly. Tim

  56. veronicaNo Gravatar on January 2nd, 2010

    Hey Tim

    I’m not Fiona but in my experience, almost all YP problems can be traced to “fat not hot enough” (assuming you are using plain white flour as Fiona specifies). The fat must be *smoking*. And don’t hang about — get that batter in the tins and get them back in the hot oven pronto! I have to say I don’t fill mine to the top — say about 2/3 full. But there ain’t no time for careful measuring :) Good luck!

  57. MiriamNo Gravatar on January 2nd, 2010

    This worked perfectly, thanks!

  58. LindsayNo Gravatar on January 6th, 2010

    Hi, I struggled with yorkies for years until hubbie, who rarely ever cooked anything started having success with instant batter mix. Boo! Hiss! Have since found a REAL recipe that I works well for me, equivalent ingredients to yours but instead of the traditional well of flour, put the liquid egg into a bowl/jug first, add flour on top then whisk. Absorbs quickly and no lumps without having to whisk too hard. Think it might’ve been a Nigella Lawson recipe but not sure. I use giant muffin tins (american style) which are great for generous individual puds but have enough depth to encourage good height. Has become a bit of a speciality in no time.

  59. LauraNo Gravatar on January 18th, 2010

    WOW! I’ll be honest; I was very sceptical about this recipe. But true to everyone’s comments it worked with amazing results and I only had the use of a shallow fairy cake tin. I’ll now be able to impress my friend; a Yorkshire Chef!

  60. brightspriteNo Gravatar on January 18th, 2010

    “they’re great cold with a slice of ham for breakfast”
    Interesting that you say that, Fiona, as my daughter and I also eat them cold – even with marmalade ….. but there are some people, including daughter’s outlaw, who insist on throwing leftovers in the bin.
    What a waste!

Leave a reply

Subscribe without commenting: get new comments on this article via e-mail