Yorkshire puddings

Batter, baked and served with beef gravy, served as a starter or as an accompaniment to a roast beef dinner.

When I was growing up Yorkshire puddings were one of those things that few people could make well. I think this is even more the case today. Even in Britain where the dish originates, your average home cook has a problem with them. There are many myths surrounding how they should be cooked, and today you can find many recipes online based around those myths, which does nothing but add to the confusion. When I left the UK everyone had given up making their own and just bought Aunt Bessie’s frozen Yorkshire puddings instead. You just reheat them. They are already cooked.

Alas, in Australia pre-baked frozen Yorkshire puddings are hard to get hold of. I’ve only ever found one place that sells frozen, pre-baked Yorkshire puddings (and that’s the larger Woolworths on Illawarra Road in Marrickville). Why? Australians love Yorkshire’s with all their roast dinners! I see a business opportunity here…

So, in an attempt to demystify the humble Yorkshire pudding for those who are interested, or for those that like their Yorkshire puddings to taste a specific way, here is the science behind them.

The basic recipe is simple. The raising agent is actually water. No yeast, no baking powder, no air, just plain water, hence it is a batter rather than a dough. To have it set in a raised position, you need protein. That is provided by the high-protein flour and the egg, which makes up half the total volume of liquid in a Yorkshire pudding.

Ingredients: wheat flour, eggs, milk, water, salt.

Yorkshire pudding myths:

1. Use baker’s flour rather than plain flour: TRUE (the higher the protein, the better the rise)
2. Use a high liquid to flour ratio: TRUE (250-300% is ideal, the higher you go the less stretchy interior you get, but you get a crisper outside. Above 300% it starts to resemble a crispbread rather than a Yorkshire pudding. Eggs are counted as liquid for the purposes of baker’s percentages, so for every 100g of flour you should have 275g of combined milk and egg (in a 1:1 ratio) to get the optimal 275% hydration)
3. Add whole eggs + yolks: FALSE (opposite is true, you want high protein and low fat)
4. Use half milk, half water: TRUE (lower fat content makes crispier bread in general)
5. Batter must rest at least one hour, the longer the better: TRUE (this is the single most important, rest batter overnight at room temperature for optimal rise and flavour, it should not be chilled)
6. Batter must be chilled: FALSE (opposite is true, you want a rapid rise which you won’t get if the batter is chilled, chilling batter only applies to batter with soda water or beer)
7. Beef dripping or lard make the best puddings: TRUE (improves texture and flavour)
8. Tray must be piping hot: MINIMAL (true but there is not that much difference if the tin is thin, applies mainly to when using cast iron)
9. Oven temperature must be very hot: MINIMAL (true, bread is typically baked at 230℃ and cake at 180℃, and this is more of a bread, but both work. When cooking at 230℃ you need to cook for 25 mins and when cooking at 180℃ you need to cook for 45 mins)
10. Don’t open the oven door: FALSE (no perceptible differences when tested side by side, but the more often you do it, the longer they will take to cook)

Suggested ideal recipe: 

• 140g (200ml) flour (ideally bakers, if not use plain, if not you can use self-raising)
• 200g (200ml) eggs
• 200g (200ml) milk (or milk/water in 1:1 ratio)
• 3g salt

This recipe makes about 12 individual-sized, medium Yorkshire puddings, enough for one tray.
Note that while using the weight of these ingredients is more precise, and is the recommended method commercially, using the volume measurements is very convenient to remember, because you use an equal volume of flour, egg, and milk. So, feel free to use cups if you don’t have kitchen scales.

This is the classic recipe. Feel free to vary it as you see fit, given your new-found knowledge of what effects you can get. I would make this as your base recipe to test what it tastes like, and then tweak it from there, depending on your tastes.

Also note this is a (200g + 200g)*10 / 140g = 285% hydration batter. That makes it slightly on the crisper side, but not too crisp.

The level of seasoning is also standard, namely 2% of the flour weight for all savoury wheat-based products. (140g / 100)*2 = 3g

If you want a great roast beef recipe to try these with click here.