Yorkshire Pudding

Last week in my Wellness programme in the Community House, we made Yorkshire pudding. The week before, we were discussing how we can eat more healthily and cheaply without compromising on taste and nutrition. Since I was the only person that is not of English heritage, the group was happy to show me how to make Yorkshire pudding.

A few weeks back, I showed the group how to cut a pineapple.

Well, Yorkshire pudding is actually not a pudding in the real sense as in ‘pudding’ or as in dessert or a sweet dish. Yorkshire pudding is served as a side to the Sunday roast. It dates back to days yonder. As the name implies, the place of origin is Yorkshire, which is at the north of England. In the olden days, Yorkshire puddings, or Yorkies, was served before the roast and was the size of a dinner plate. At that time, people were poor, and the idea was to eat the Yorkies first, so that one is half-full, and then have the roast, which is the expensive part of the meal.

According to my other half, Sunday lunch is served late in the afternoon, – usually after 2 pm and can go on till 4 pm. This was because people had to go to church. And after church, the men would go for a drink and the women went home and prepare lunch. So when the pubs close, people will head home and have their lunch!! This much is the history that I was told.

So coming back to Sunday lunch, my other half would cook a roast and he would buy frozen Yorkies, frozen potatoes, frozen stuffing, vegetables, etc. So that is why I have not made Yorkshire pudding before. Do not get me wrong. I do a lot of ‘desk top’ cooking. That is, I read a lot of cookbooks and I imagine that I am cooking the dish. So I know how to make it. I have also watched a lot of cookery programmes, so I am an ‘expert’. I also do a lot of ‘bed top’ cooking. That is, I normally flip through cookbooks before bed instead of reading a bed time story. So that qualifies me to be an expert cook!!

The recipe:

As far as I know, a fool-proof way of making Yorkies is to have the proportions right – equal volume of eggs, flour, milk (or water). Mix it all together and leave to stand overnight. The next day, heat up a muffin tin or a Yorkshire pudding tin with a teaspoon of oil or lard or drippings in each hole. Heat it until smoking, then fill with the batter until 2/3 full. Place in a hot oven until it puffs up and brown, around 30 minutes. and voila! It is ready.

Caitlyn’s ( the course facilitator) recipe is 25g of flour to 1 egg ( medium) and milk. So we make ours with:

Ingredients:

100g plain flour

3 large eggs

1/2 pint milk ( around 280ml)

Equipment

1 muffin tin

Method:

In a bowl or container, tip in the flour. Then make a hole in the centre.
Add in the cracked eggs and stir from the centre, slowly incorporating the flour as you go along.
Mix the mixture thoroughly and give it a good beating. Set aside and let it rest.
Meanwhile, place 1 tsp of oil in each of the muffin hole.
Place in the centre of a hot oven until smoking.
Carefully remove from oven and fill up the tin with the batter up to 2/3.
Return the tin to the oven and bake at 200C or gas mk 6 until puffed up and brown.
Remove from the oven and cool the Yorkies on a cooling rack.
Repeat until all the batter is used us.