This one is for Sister Erin. She’s been searching her whole cooking life for the ultimate Yorkshire Pudding recipe. And we think we’ve found it! Just three ingredients. No special equipment required. And it’s so easy (almost) anybody can do it!
Americans call them ‘Popovers’. The rest of the world knows them as Yorkshire puddings. Whatever you call them, the monster examples produced by Glen And Friends Cooking are far and away taller and more stable than any others I’ve seen in all my decades in front of the stove.
And I’m still shaking my head in amazement at how easy they are to make!
A lost art?
Yorkshire Puds have been a beloved dinner table treat across the entire UK for hundreds of years. But I have to wonder whether making them properly has become something of a lost art in the 21st Century?
I was floored (in a nice way, I mean) to learn that the recipe Glen (pictured top of page) uses came from an 18th Century cook book – one of the first publications anywhere to record recipes of any kind in print.
Seems Glen (and his friends) have a ‘thing’ for old cookbooks. Their videos have titles such as: ‘Curry Like It’s 1886!’, ‘Live Fire Cooking’, and ‘Wayback Throwback’.
What you need
Getting back to those Puddings… They require only three ingredients – aside from the oil to lubricate the cups they cook in. And all three are required in the same measured volume:
Basically, what you need are:
200 ml / 7.0 fl. oz. milk
200 ml / 7.0 fl. oz. shelled eggs (not separated)
200 ml / 7.0 fl. oz. flour
That’s it. But it’s what you do with them that constitutes the ‘secret’ that’s been buried in that ancient cookbook for 302 years!
What you do
The instructions offer little more detail than, “Put the ingredients together in a big bowl and mix them up.” One secret not revealed i9n latter day cookbooks is to let the batter rest for 6 – 8 hours before pouring it into cooking moulds. Another is, pre-heat the moulds in the pre-heating oven before adding the oil, which should also be pre-heated before adding the batter.
Then, bake in the pre-heated 475 F oven for about 15 minutes. Or, until maximum height has been attained and the puddings have turned a deep golden brown. Then turn the oven down to 350 F for another 15 to 20 minutes, to make sure the insides are cooked. An undercooked interior is what will make your Puds collapse!
Further Tips: Don’t overfill the moulds. About 1/3 of the way up is optimum.
My take
That’s all there is to it. Watch the video, embedded above, for a full and accurate impression of how these babies rise! And listen attentively, because Glen offers so many little tips and hacks along the way…
I’ll be looking for Glen and Friends on You Tube regularly from here on in. Who knows what they’ll come up with next?
~ Maggie J.