This British side dish is an essential part of a roast dinner. Yorkshire puddings have been around for hundreds of years - originally called dripping pudding, having traditionally been made using the dripping collected from the beef roasting tin. These days, however, most people use vegetable oil.
Chef Ben Ebrell of SORTEDfood (a social media movement dedicated to cooking) believes he’s cracked the very best method for making the ultimate Yorkshire pudding.
From letting the batter rest overnight to the perfect milk to flour ratio, following his tips will ensure you ‘wow’ everyone at the dinner table time after time.
How to make the best Yorkshire puddings
1. Keep it simple – use just three everyday pantry ingredients: plain flour, eggs and whole milk, plus a pinch of salt.
2. Ben doesn’t have so much a recipe but a ratio - equal parts of flour, beaten egg and milk. He suggests choosing which ‘vessel’ to measure the ingredients in, depending on how many you’re cooking for - it can be a ramekin, a jug, a mug or even a bucket.
3. Fill your vessel first with all-purpose flour, before dumping into a mixing bowl, then refill with equal quantities of cracked eggs, whisking those into the flour with a generous pinch of salt, before finishing by refilling the same vessel again with milk and whisking that in, a bit at a time, until you’re left with a smooth batter.
4. Make the batter in advance – this allows the gluten in it to rest and fully hydrate - it also means that you can get ahead with cooking everything else. "Making the batter the day before is a trick all good restaurants do – it frees up time on the Sunday to dedicate to the other dishes that need cooking, and it means the Yorkshires get that brilliant rise we’re looking for,” says Ben.
5. Set your oven to 240°C/Fan 220°C/Gas 8 – the highest it will go. It’s important to have a very hot oven so the puddings rise. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with a teaspoon of oil in each hole. You can use bacon fat or beef fat, but the SORTEDfood chefs didn’t see much difference in taste.
6. Sit the muffin tray on top of a baking sheet to allow for any spillage over the top. Then put the tray in the oven for five minutes until the oil is almost smoking. After five minutes reach into the oven, pull the shelf towards you and pour the batter into the muffin holes so they are ¾ full – try to do this keeping the tray inside the oven and as quickly as safely possible. Not easy but it means the oil doesn’t cool down as much as when you take it out of the oven.
7. Turn the oven down to 220°C and cook for 12-14 minutes, then open the oven and give the Yorkshires a quick twist in their trays. This ensures they cook evenly. Pop them back in the oven for a couple of minutes. The result will be crispy risen tops with a perfect centre.
