Smart Wife’s Perfect Yorkshire pudding recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Vegetables and Sides | 90 comments
Successful individual yorkshire puddings made in a fairy cake tray
We now have an even better recipe for Yorkshire puddings – these are crisp and keep their shape.
Years 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 feeds 4 or 2 greedy people like D and me – they’re great cold with a slice of ham for breakfast)
| Smart Wife’s Perfect Yorkshire pudding recipe |
- 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
- Sift the plain flour into a bowl. Add the salt.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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WOW! I’ve been a complete failure with Yorkshire puds for the last few years. I’ve produced a large number of flat discs… I’ve created toad in the hole which became sausages in a squishy soggy mess…
However… Today I have followed this recipe and I almost cried with joy at the result! ENORMOUS, PUFFY, CRISPY YET SOFT AND AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAZINGLY DELICIOUS!!!!
Thank you! 🙂
Thanks I will give it a go.
Reading all the comments above reminded me of how my late father made his Yorkshire pudding.He would make it in an oblong baking tray but the mixture was not like Yorkshires as we know them. This was came out of the oven almost like a sponge cake,brown and golden and spongy with gravy sediment on the bottom. Todays yorkshires are pathetic in comparison. He used to say that the pudding was eaten before dinner. He came from North Wales and lived in Birkenhead. Does anyone know of such a recipe?
Hi Paul E
In the olden days when cooking was done on a range Yorkshire puddings were not the light fluffy things of today. Same ingredients were used though. I reckon that If you placed the beef joint on the bars of an oven, and put the yorkshire pud on the shelf underneath you would get a pud similar to your Dad’s with the gravy sediment.
I have a Gas fan oven. What Gas mark number should I set it at ???
Hi Micky
Gas mark 7 I think. You may need to experiment as it’s a fan oven.
Thanks so much for this fab recipe. I’ve tried several of this site’s recipes before (including roast beef one, which comes up tops), and have used this recipe several times- puds have been perfect each time 🙂
Diana
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m pregnant, going through morning sickness right now, and desperately wanted a delicious Yorkshire pud. I went to a local restaurant last night that usually has delicious ones, but they were awful. So I looked around this morning and found your recipe and made them. They are absolutely perfect. Exactly what my tummy (and this baby) needed!
I am making this recipe now… will let you know how I get on.
My yorkshire pud’s are always a 50/50 chance of getting it right, although, I never used to follow a recipe. I used to always use my own judgement.
It seemed to me that the batter was very thin, but that may be better!! 🙂
Hi Karen
Thank you so much for dropping by and leaving such a positive comment!
Hi, just tried your recipe and while the puddings didn’t turn out perfectly (slightly “darker” than they should have been due to fan assisted oven timings) they rose perfectly, so much so that I couldn’t get them out of the oven! They were fluffy and light inside and crispy on the outside (if a little darker!). Many thanks for your recipe!
Fantastic !!!!
Been trying to make yorkshire puds like this for years,Thankyou